


A Wedding for Loyalty to the Crown: Sorrow, Resentment, Redemption.

by EfrainJorge



Category: Victoria (TV)
Genre: Alternate History, Arranged Marriage, Disappointment, F/M, Heartbreaking, Hurt, Love, Love/Hate, Marriage Proposal, Married Life, Older Man/Younger Woman, Original Character(s), Rage, Resentment, Vicbourne
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2018-10-30 19:08:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 91,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10883118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EfrainJorge/pseuds/EfrainJorge
Summary: The planned wedding of Victoria and Albert has been truncated by a painful event. Now Lord Melbourne is ready to help her overcome this difficult episode of her life. But another unexpected fact will endanger Victoria's reign (and country stability) and undermine Lord Melbourne's love for Victoria, just when she needs him the most. Can Lord Melbourne forgive the pain Victoria inflicted upon him?





	1. The Queen has a problem.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected visitor arrives at Brocket Hall, to reveal to Lord Melbourne a secret that will break his heart and sow the bitterness in his soul, and at the same time putting him before a hard decision.

                                            

The carriage was approaching the entrance to Brocket Hall, the private country residence of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.  
Lord Melbourne was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and (in the context of the British Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy) he was the real ruler of the British Empire, the most powerful nation in the world at that time.  
Lord Melbourne ruled the country and its colonial empire from two offices, one located at Dover House, and another at its private residence in Brocket Hall. That day he was in Brocket Hall, about to be surprised by an unexpected visit.  
Inside the carriage was Leopold I, King of the Belgians (his official title as King of Belgium). Leopold was a German prince who had been married to the Princess heiress of Crown of Great Britain, Princess Charlotte of Wales, but years after her death (in the birth of the only son of the couple, who also died) he had become King of Belgium, a new country that had been born of a Revolution. In addition, he was uncle of the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen Victoria (since Victoria's mother was Leopold's sister).  
Leopold's visit to Lord Melbourne was not only surprising because it had not been announced previously, but especially because the relationship between them was not exactly cordial but rather marked by tension and mutual mistrust. Leopold had seen Lord Melbourne as an obstacle in his effort for marrying his niece Victoria to his nephew Albert (son of Leopold's brother, Duke Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), something very important for his political interests. And it is that Leopold was sure that Lord Melbourne was in love with his niece, and that she had been in love with him, until her feelings changed and she fell in love with Albert.  
But the victory that this meant for Leopold became a bitter defeat for the tragic events that followed, and that now led him to have a very difficult and unpleasant conversation with that 'adversary' whom he believed to have defeated and to whom he now needed..  
While Leopold was approaching, Lord Melbourne was sitting behind his desk (in the library at Brocket Hall), having finished signing some decrees (which Queen Victoria later had to ratify with her signature) and keeping those and other official documents in his leather bag. He was getting ready to go to a meeting, and that was why he was in a hurry. However, when he took other documents, he again saw a newspaper that had been lying on his desk for a few days. He could not avoid taking the newspaper and reading once again the great front-page headline, in big black typographic characters:  
"Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was murdered in his country," read Lord Melbourne, and then came a second headline in somewhat smaller letters: "Queen Victoria's fiancé dies in an attack at the hands of a lone murderer".  
Lord Melbourne leaned back in his seat, and once more he felt a mixture of conflicting feelings. Of course he felt some sadness and compassion, after all a basically noble person like him could not help lamenting the death of such a young man in such a tragic and cruel way. In addition, he felt compassion for Victoria's pain, and he also felt a deep sadness when he saw her so devastated in their first meeting after the news was known (even she cried in his arms, breaking the protocol). Anyone who knew the feelings of Lord Melbourne would know that he would do anything to keep her from suffering, that Victoria's pain was what most distressed him in his life.  
But on the other hand... Lord Melbourne felt guilty because he was aware that a part of him, of his mind and heart, had felt an evil joy. Because Albert's death prevented Victoria from marrying him... When Albert died Lord Melbourne was deeply depressed and bitter, full of rage and even rancor against Albert and even against Victoria. Lord Melbourne could not help but detest the man who had 'stolen' Victoria's love from forever, and he could not help but feel hurt because Victoria had changed her feelings so quickly, from loving him to he to love Albert and forget how important he had been in her life. So it was human that Lord Melbourne felt some satisfaction in the darkest part of his soul, but he tried to dispel those terrible and mean feelings, and he was deeply ashamed to feel them.  
And anyway, if Victoria could no longer marry Albert, sooner or later she would marry another European prince. It was her destiny, her inevitable destiny. A reigning Queen of Britain could only find a worthy husband among the men of European Royalty, at least that was what dictated the most rancid tradition, which the traditionalists would argue for. If only he would have accepted his proposal...  
That was what most tormented Lord Melbourne, that Victoria had declared her love and proposed marriage to him before Albert. But he had rejected her, very gallantly and diplomatically, but he had rejected her. He had done it against his own feelings, because he loved her and nothing would have made him happier than marrying her. That is why he reproached God or destiny that Victoria had been born to be Queen, because if it were not so he would have fought for her love. But he did not want to harm her, he did not want to jeopardize her permanence in the Throne, he did not want her to be forced to abdicate for a disastrous political and constitutional crisis if she insisted on marrying him against the will of the country or at least of the ruling class. Nor did he want to endanger the stability of the country, for he was convinced that Britain needed Victoria as Queen now more than ever. However, doubts sometimes assailed him and he thought that perhaps if they had fought together there would have been a good chance of getting approval for their marriage, if they had used a good strategy to convince public opinion and pressure the political class. But other times he dismissed it as a stupid hope of his broken heart...  
But in any case now it was about helping Victoria to endure the pain during the mourning stage, to make things easier, to protect her as he had always done. And the only good thing about that tragedy is that now he could have more time with her, before their paths separated forever...  
He tossed the newspaper aside, and stood up to fasten the straps of his purse where he carried the documents, and made a mental overhaul to make sure he did not forget anything before leaving. He was almost ready when the door opened and one of his servants (dressed in Brocket Hall's servants livery) entered and announced ceremonially.  
"His Majesty, Leopold, King of the Belgians," said the servant.  
Lord Melbourne lifted his head with a gesture of great surprise on his face, wondering inside if he had heard wrong. But almost immediately Leopold entered the library, and the servant withdrew with a deep bowing and closed the door.  
"Lord Melbourne," Leopold said with deference, but with the arrogant stance with which he was addressing almost everyone, including Lord Melbourne.  
"Your Majesty," said Lord Melbourne, also with deference, trying to conceal the confusion he felt, "It is an honor to receive you at my house, though I must confess that it is an unexpected honor."  
"I know, Lord Melbourne. And I apologize for introducing myself at your home without first announcing my visit, and even without receiving an invitation. But an urgent matter brings me here. I can ask you if you were about to leave," Leopold replied.  
"Well, I was actually about to leave for a meeting of leaders of my party, but if it is a very serious matter..." replied Lord Melbourne, but deep down he was suspicious and feared what the Belgian King had come to tell, nothing good surely.  
"Yes, I would be grateful, Lord Melbourne. It would be very convenient to cancel or postpone your attendance at that meeting, because the matter is really urgent and can not wait," said Leopold.  
"I understand," said Lord Melbourne, feeling rather nervous, though he dissembled it quite well, and then rang a bell for the servant waiting outside, who immediately opened the door, "Tell the butler to send a message from to the meeting to which I was going to attend, he knows which, warning that I can not attend for a very urgent state matter that has arisen at the last moment."  
The servant retired, and Lord Melbourne was again alone with King Leopold.  
"Majesty, have a seat, please," said Lord Melbourne.  
King Leopold sat down in an armchair, and then Lord Melbourne sat down in another armchair in front of him.  
"Lord Melbourne, you and I have never been very close... and I admit that it was more because of my attitude than yours. However, I recognize that you are an honorable man, a man who puts the duty above his own person, who loves his country and his Queen, my niece. I know that your devotion to Victoria is sincere and disinterested, and that I say these words, it is very significant," said Leopold, politely and sincerely, but cold.  
"I am grateful, Your Majesty," replied Lord Melbourne, more and more uneasy, for he had the feeling that such flattery was like the siren song that attracted the sailors to death, for Leopold was perhaps the last man in the world to it would flatter him, unless something very powerful forced him to do so.  
"Lord Melbourne, the tragic death of my nephew," Leopold continued, and his voice cracked, and the cold mask on his face cracked, allowing for an instant the emotion to take possession of the usually cold, self-controlled man, evidencing real pain that he felt for the death of his favorite nephew, producing in Lord Melbourne a moment of discomfort... but then the Belgian King regained his aplomb, "it has provoked a very difficult situation, just when were removed all the obstacles for the marriage of my nephews, and your Parliament was about to approve the arrangements for Albert's future status as Victoria's husband. But this tragedy has destroyed all plans and has left my niece in a very complex situation."  
"I understand, Your Majesty... and believe me that I will do my best to help the Queen in this situation. Fortunately the whole Nation is united at this time to support their Queen, and sympathy is almost unanimous from the streets to Parliament," Lord Melbourne replied, trying to be reassuring.  
"That pleases me, Lord Melbourne. But the situation is much more delicate than you think," Leopold said, and Lord Melbourne had the strange feeling that beneath his mask of apparent coldness, the Belgian Monarch was also a little nervous, and what is worse, he seemed to be gathering strength to say what he was going to say next, and not knowing why Lord Melbourne's heart began to accelerate, "Lord Melbourne, there is no easy and appropriate way to say this, so I will go straight to the point... my niece Victoria... She is with child of Albert."  
Lord Melbourne needed a moment to digest what he had heard, and when he did, it was like a heavy blow to his stomach, and a punch to the face. Spontaneously he rose from the armchair like a spring and turned his back on Leopold, and felt dizzy, so he planted his hand on the back of the armchair, trying to avoid the unworthiness of falling to the ground collapsed before the Belgian King. Almost immediately he felt nauseous, and bit his other hand trying to avoid with that gesture the urge to vomit. Fortunately the nausea disappeared, and then he pulled out a handkerchief to put it over his mouth and nose. His heart was beating like a runaway horse and his breathing was rattling. He had to close his eyes and concentrate to calm himself, and slow the rhythm of his heartbeat and his breathing. He felt sick, discomposed, as if suddenly his life would have ended and he would wait until him were thrown into the pit of his grave...  
"Lord Melbourne ... are you feeling well, or should I call your servants to find a doctor?" Leopold asked with genuine consideration, after not speaking for a moment to give him his space to recover.  
"No, it is not necessary, Your Majesty. This ... is this situation confirmed?" Lord Melbourne asked, turning slowly and putting his handkerchief in his pocket as he did so.  
"I'm afraid, yes, Lord Melbourne ... for the Queen's doctor, who will, of course, keep absolute secrecy about ... the situation," Leopold replied uncomfortably and somewhat embarrassed.  
"I see," said Lord Melbourne, displaying a very different face than he had before, as if he had grown from a healthy and energetic man, to a dying man.  
Lord Melbourne took a seat slowly and then fell silent, his eyes lowered, as if he had forgotten that in front of him he had a foreign Head of State who was also the uncle of his own Monarch.  
"Lord Melbourne, I do not need to tell you that a Queen can not have a bastard child... that would be the end of Victoria's reign, her abdication would be the only acceptable solution to such a scandal," Leopold said, trying to concentrate on the problem, and thus obviate the shameful part.  
"Of course," said Lord Melbourne, still in shock.  
When he heard Victoria's name, Lord Melbourne had the strange feeling that were talking about someone missing, a loved one who had recently died and whose death burned his heart. Leopold realized that Lord Melbourne was not in a position to take the lead in that conversation, so he should be the one to take the lead in the dialogue.  
"My sister and me have discussed with my niece the options... Naturally one option would be to keep Victoria's pregnancy secret until birth, and then deliver the child to a loyal and discreet family who would take care of raising him as his own. That would have been a risky and very difficult, even though feasible, but the main problem was that Victoria flatly refused to even consider it. She does not want to give up her child, Albert's child," Leopold said coldly and expressionlessly on his face.  
The face of Lord Melbourne reflected pain and anger equally.  
"Another option would be for Victoria to marry quickly with another prince of some Reigning Dynasty..." Leopold continued.  
"I see! I imagine you already have the candidate, very well, you do not worry, under the circumstances I will do everything possible so that the marriage is approved, although I warn you that it will not be easy," said Lord Melbourne in a tone of sarcasm and a certain contempt poorly concealed.  
"You're wrong, Lord Melbourne! Neither I have a candidate nor my niece accepted that idea, she stubbornly refuses to marry another prince unknown to her," answered Leopold angrily at the tone of Lord Melbourne, containing his indignation.  
"I understand... then I fear there is little that can be done," Lord Melbourne replied angrily and with some nuisance.  
"Lord Melbourne, I do not think I should remind you that if my niece Victoria is forced to abdicate, the new King of Great Britain would be the Duke of Cumberland," Leopold said, referring to Victoria's perverse, greedy paternal uncle, the next on the line of succession to the British throne.  
"Believe me when I say to you, Your Majesty, that there is no one in England who least desires to see the despot King of Hanover in the Throne of my country!... For me that would be a catastrophe, but in these circumstances I see no way to avoid it," said Lord Melbourne with desperate impotence mingled with barely restrained rage, referring to the fact that Duke of Cumberland was at the same time King of the Germanic Kingdom of Hanover, in which had abolished the Constitution and imposed its tyranny as Absolute Monarchy.  
"It is not inevitable, there is another choice Lord Melbourne," Leopold said.  
"I hope you are not thinking about trying to interrupt the Queen's pregnancy, that would endanger her life!," exclaimed Lord Melbourne, unable to avoid anguish.  
"By whom you take me, Lord Melbourne! ... After seeing my beloved Charlotte and my child die in childbirth... you thinks I would endanger Victoria's life!" exclaimed Leopold indignantly.  
"And I have buried a son and a daughter, and my daughter was newborn, so no one can teach me in that field!" said Lord Melbourne furiously.  
They were silent for a moment.  
"Sorry, Your Majesty. I apologize to you," Lord Melbourne said truthfully, but still tense.  
"I also apologize, Lord Melbourne. I know this is not easy for you or for me," Leopold replied more serenely, "But as I said, there is another option."  
"What would that be, Your Majesty?" Lord Melbourne asked, trying to act reasonably.  
"The marriage, Lord Melbourne," answered Leopold.  
"I thought you said Her Majesty did not want to get married," Lord Melbourne replied, trying to control his impatience and anger.  
"No, Lord Melbourne. I said that my niece does not want to marry another prince of royal blood, especially one she does not know... but there is a man she would be willing to marry... With you, Lord Melbourne," said Leopold very seriously and with a certain air of tragic resignation.  
Lord Melbourne stood up again, his face stunned.  
"You're making fun of me, Your Majesty!" cried Lord Melbourne angrily.  
"I would never make jokes with something so delicate!" replied Leopold, angrily, and rose to his feet.  
"That's folly!" Lord Melbourne told him.  
"Under normal circumstances it would be, but this situation is not normal... Let's talk clear, Lord Melbourne. My niece was in love with you before falling in love with her cousin, and I'm sure that if she fell in love with Albert it was only because she suffered a disappointment with you... and I'm sure that if you broke her heart it was for duty and not for inclination. Because I am also convinced that you are in love with my niece," Leopold replied firmly and earnestly.  
"This conversation is absolutely out of place!" Lord Melbourne protested indignantly and defensively.  
"Come on man! This is no time for squeamishness, or discreet silences... I watched them both, you and her. And you two did not deceive me, in fact, you two did not deceive many people. You were a couple in love. When I saw you two, I seemed to be seeing my poor Charlotte and myself more than twenty years ago... But Victoria was the Queen and yours could not and should not be for the good of all. But now the circumstances have changed. The only possibility that Victoria has to save her honor and keep her Crown, and that this country does not have a greedy despot of Monarch, is that you make another sacrifice and marry her, the woman you love and the one you have sworn loyalty as Queen," Leopold said briskly.  
"But it's absurd! The country will not accept..." Lord Melbourne defended.  
"As you said, Lord Melbourne, the country is united in its love and compassion for its Queen. It will not be easy but not so difficult to convince public opinion that the grieving Queen needs the love and comfort of a noble gentleman who has always loved her and now comes to rescue her from her suffering and offer her the balm of her love. People love a good love story," Leopold said with some cynicism.  
"But the Privy Council and Parliament would never approve of it," Lord Melbourne argued.  
"Yes, they will, Lord Melbourne. Because the Conservative Party would close ranks to support the marriage," Leopold replied confidently.  
"Did you... did you speak first to the Duke of Wellington and Robert Peel?" asked Lord Melbourne bewildered.  
"Yes, and they understood the need to save Victoria. Both are willing to do anything to prevent the Duke of Cumberland from being King, because they both know it would be a tragedy for England. Anyway, I do not deny that there was a certain reluctance, especially of Sir Robert, but in the end also accepted. They pledged themselves to get the Tory Party to support your marriage... of course that would be better for Sir Robert it to do as Prime Minister," Leopold said quietly.  
"Of course... but the support of the Conservative Party is not decisive in the Privy Council," Lord Melbourne told him.  
"But it is the support of the Duke of Wellington, perhaps the most influential member of the Privy Council. But we also have the support of the Duke of Sussex, as much or more influential than the Duke of Wellington," Leopold said with a slight smile.  
"I see that you have solved everything, Your Majesty," Lord Melbourne replied with irony and a cynical expression on his face - Never underestimate your ability for you have one's own way, Your Majesty.  
"I'll take it as a compliment, Lord Melbourne," Leopold replied sarcastically.  
"So all I have to do to save England from disaster is to agree to marry a woman is with child from another man," said Lord Melbourne with a hard expression on his face and a barely concealed scorn.  
Leopold became livid with anger.  
"Lord Melbourne, I remind you that this woman is the Queen of England, your Queen and my niece!" exclaimed Leopold indignantly.  
"Tell me one thing, Your Majesty. In your negotiations it has been established that the children of that eventual marriage would be entitled to succession to the Crown, right?" asked Lord Melbourne coolly.  
"What? Of course, it would not make sense if the children of Victoria could not inherit the Crown from their mother," Leopold replied somewhat bewildered.  
"And in that way the child who Victoria waits could, eventually inherit the Crown. So your nephew Albert's child will probably sit on the British Throne... and at least in part your wishes will come true," Lord Melbourne said with a light ironic smile.  
"Lord Melbourne, you think the only thing that motivates me is my own ambition and my desire to elevate my family, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. And I do not deny that to a large extent that is the reason for my actions, something that I am not ashamed of... but you are wrong, if you think that I'm not interested in the welfare of my niece. For me she is very important, after all she is the daughter of my sister. I wish my niece had a long and glorious reign, and she may be happy in her private life too. As you say, Albert's child might come to reign in Britain, or perhaps not... but even if it were so, in the eyes of the world that child would not be Saxe-Coburg, would be your child, the child of Lord Melbourne..." Leopold said very seriously, but honestly.  
"But not before my eyes, nor before yours, nor those of all who know the truth," replied Lord Melbourne.  
"It's your decision, Lord Melbourne. If you want to repudiate the child because he is not his son, if you does want to reject the woman you loves for her dishonor, you are in your right... But if you can see beyond your pride and your pain, if you really wants to serve your Queen and your country with the greatest service imaginable, if you wants to save Victoria from humiliation and dishonor, and Britain from an uncertain and dangerous destiny, you will make a sacrifice. If you're the kind of man I think you are, you'll do it... if you are not, forgive me for bothering you with a request you find intolerable," Leopold replied.  
Lord Melbourne had a gesture of infinite torment on his face, with a hard look in his eyes.  
"I can not give you an answer now... I need to think," Lord Melbourne answered.  
"I understand ... but the answer can not take long. If you accept, we must expedite the process and us ensure that the wedding is as soon as possible. Before the condition of my niece is very evident," replied Leopold.  
"I'll try to answer it tomorrow," Lord Melbourne said in a broken voice.  
"All right... See you soon, Lord Melbourne," Leopold said.  
"I'll see you soon, Your Majesty," said Lord Melbourne with cool courtesy.  
Leopold went out into the hall and a servant accompanied him to the door. Lord Melbourne stood alone in the library, pacing impatiently from side to side, and in a rapture he grabbed a bottle of whiskey that was on a small table and threw it against a wall, bursting it into pieces. Then he slammed his fist several times on another wall, and finally sank his face against the wall, and cried...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 2: The Night that My Friend Saved Britain.


	2. The Night that My Friend Saved Britain.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Melbourne fights his demons to make a decision, tormented by pain and rage. But the timely presence of a character dear to him will bring some light on a very difficult and sad night.

                                                                                                        

Lord George Mcphail was a kind and smiling man, or so he seemed. He was a mature man, but not old, relatively tall, an average body, perhaps a few pounds of more. He was white-skinned and had dark brown hair, but with a few gray hairs dyeing him partially white. He had a face with pleasant features, and in general it could be said of him that if he was not a very handsome man, he was not an ugly man, he was more or less attractive. A man who dressed very elegantly, that day in a light blue suit.  
That nightfall, Lord George arrived riding to Brocket Hall... As he reached the front door of the mansion, he dismounted from the horse and handed the reins to a servant, and at the door another servant waited for him, to escort him to inside of the house.  
Lord George went through the entrance hall and when he was going to enter a corridor, he met the butler of Borcket Hall.  
"Lord George, it is a pleasure to see you, my lord," said the butler.  
"The pleasure is mine, Robert. How do you feel?" George replied.  
"Very well, my lord, thank you for asking. And how are you, my lord?" asked the butler.  
"Pretty good, overall. Where is old Will? No, do not tell me! Surely in the library. Do not worry Robert, I know the way, too much. Go back to your duties, I'll surprise the old fox myself" George replied with a broad smile.  
"Lord George, maybe I should..." the butler tried to speak with a concerned expression on his face.  
" Relax, Robert! If he is busy I assume responsibility for the interruption. You know that with me he can not be angry for long. Go back to your own", said George, smiling, patting the butler on one shoulder, and without waiting for his answer he continued alone toward the library of the mansion.  
The butler watched him walk away, his face a little pitiful.  
"Then do not say I did not warn you," said the butler, quietly, before he went about his business.  
George reached the door of the library and untouched, opened the door and entered the room.  
"Distinguished Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, your honorable friend Lord Geor...!" Exclaimed George in a mocking tone, but could not finish the sentence...  
The first thing George saw was the scraps of a bottle of whiskey scattered on the floor, with its liquid content also scattered. Then he saw a pile of papers strewn on the floor, along with some books, and a overturned chair. He looked up and saw Lord Melbourne sitting behind his desk, with a glass in one hand and a bottle in the other, his head lowered, and when he lifted it up to see him, George saw that Lord Melbourne had a terrible expression on him. Face that alarmed him a lot.  
"Georgie, it's good to see you! Come and have you, a drink with me", said Lord Melbourne, feigning enthusiasm without much conviction, but it was evident that his tone was that of a man sunk and in a state of torment and agitation.  
"William! What happen?" George asked anguished, as he closed the door and walked a few steps toward him.  
"What's going to happen, George? Just the usual, what has happened all my life", Lord Melbourne answered bitterly and with rage.  
"You will have to be a little more specific, my friend... because in your life many different things have happened and I would not know exactly what you mean," George replied, trying to sound affable, but with some caution, while he stood by the desk and studied the face of his friend.  
"A woman... The Woman... The damn woman!" Lord Melbourne answered, increasing his anger with every word he uttered.  
"Okay, that clears things up a lot. So we're talking about a woman of short stature and skinny, with a crown on her little head, right?" said George trying to sound joker to relax a little the tension.  
"Is there another in my damn life?" said Lord Melbourne with a sardonic, bitter smile.  
George pulled up a chair and confidently sat down in front of Lord Melbourne, with the desk between them. Evidently George was the confidant of Lord Melbourne and knew all his history with Victoria. That's why he looked at it with curiosity and concern for a moment of silence.  
"It's the first time I heard you curse her," George finally said, with the interest of a good friend, but also as a psychologist who encouraged his patient to speak.  
Lord Melbourne snorted with contempt.  
"Maybe I was wrong to think she was not worthy of curses," Lord Melbourne said with rancor.  
"That's very hard! Hard and paltry, and that's why it's not like you. So it is obvious that you are very hurt... Do you want to share it with me?" George said with consideration and caution.  
"I do not know... Are you ready to know a state secret?" Lord Melbourne asked sarcastically.  
"If they will not hang me or lock me in the Tower of London, for it!" George replied a little mocking, but aware of the seriousness of the situation.  
"Then get ready to listen to something that is sure to surprise you..."  
Lord Melbourne told Lord George about his meeting with King Leopold, without keeping anything. Of all the people in the world, Lord George was perhaps the only person Lord Melbourne trusted to tell even the most serious, delicate and secret things. Lord Melbourne had absolute confidence in the loyalty and discretion of his old friend, and he had no doubt of his honesty. That is why he dared to tell him the difficult situation in which he was.  
Lord George listened with increasing surprise and compassion for his friend. When Lord Melbourne finished speaking, they both fell silent at an awkward moment.  
"I do not know what to tell you, William... I understand why you're like this," George said.  
"And now the ineffable King of the Belgians expects me to save his niece and the Kingdom, at the price of my dignity and honor," Lord Melbourne replied with irony and rancor.  
"William, can I give you my opinion?" George asked seriously and respectfully.  
"Of course, you're the only person in the world I can ask his advice, because I can not tell it what I've told you anyone else, not even my brothers," Lord Melbourne answered.  
"William, here are two different questions... one is your feelings, and in that respect you have plenty of time to deal with them. You can have days, months or even years to process this blow to your feelings. You can take all the time you need to decide whether or not you forgive Victoria, if you understand or not what she did, and what you will feel for her in the future. But the other question is the decision you must make... and that decision can not wait, tomorrow you will have to give an answer. I think that's where you should focus now," George said thoughtfully.  
"And that decision I must take it, making abstraction of my feelings?" asked Lord Melbourne.  
"I'm afraid so, there's a lot at stake, William. But before we continue this conversation, I suggest that we brace ourselves well," suggested George.  
Lord Melbourne nodded, and George went to the door to call the servants.  
"We need you to bring two... no, better, three bottles of whiskey, and food... cheese, meat, pickles, bread. Thank you," George said to the servant, as if he were at his house.  
George and Lord Melbourne began a long conversation, while they drank (Lord Melbourne more than George) and ate (George more than Lord Melbourne). The discussion was very emotional, filled with moments of tension, with Lord Melbourne venting and expressing all his pain and his rage. George tried to comfort him, searching for the right words.  
"How can I forgive such a thing!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne furiously in a moment of tension, as he walked through the library "that conduct is intolerable! How can I marry a woman who has lost her honor and expects a child from another man?"  
"You're right, William. And believe me that I understand you, I, in your place, would be just as hurt as you... From the point of view of us men the honor of a woman is between her legs. But let me ask you one thing... if Victoria had married Prince Albert, and his death had occurred after the wedding, and she was pregnant with her late husband, would you have the same indignation?" George asked, standing there looking at him.  
"In that case, I would have nothing to reproach her... it would also hurt me to know that she was in the arms of another man, who gave him her body. But morally I would have no right to reproach her at all," Lord Melbourne muttered, grunting.  
"That is to say, it's all a matter of a formalism. If Victoria had entered a church and made her vows with Albert before an altar, it would have been right for her to lie down with him and give her her virginity. But as she did before going through the altar, then she is unworthy of your love and deserves your contempt. I do not know, but do not you think that society is quite hypocritical in that sense?" George said sincerely.  
"Do not try to entangle me with your moral riddles! And do not you think you're too liberal or progressive to be a Tory?" asked Lord Melbourne with anger and irony, alluding to the curious fact that his best friend was a supporter of the Conservative Party, the main opposition party to Lord Melbourne's (Whig Party leader) government.  
"You know I'm an atypical Tory! So atypical that my best friend is the leader of the Whig Party... but let's not get off the subject. What I want to make you see is that Victoria is almost a little girl, she made a mistake of youth, but that does not mean that she is a bad woman. What makes you think she can not be a good wife to you? Why can not she make you happy?" George attacked.  
"You thought, Caroline was going to be a good wife for me!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne cynically.  
"So that's it, We've taken Caroline's ghost out of her grave!" said George reprimandingly "Victoria is not Caroline. When Caroline got into Lord Byron's bed, she was already your wife, and she had sworn allegiance to you on the altar. She left her husband and her son to follow that damned adventurer... instead Victoria is not your wife, she has not been unfaithful to you. And I remind you that she proposed marriage to you before Albert, and that it was you who rejected her, in a way it was you who threw her into the arms of that damned German prince...  
"You do not have to remind me!" cried Lord Melbourne angrily.  
"You know what I'm talking about, William! She may have committed a fault, but certainly not against you... she has not betrayed you, your honor has not been tainted by her actions", replied George.  
"But my honor will be tainted when I accept the child of another man, the son of an unworthy adventure", Lord Melbourne said stubbornly.  
"Please, William. You are smarter than that... How many men of the aristocracy have accepted as their sons at children of lovers of their wives? And that's worse, because it's about giving your surname to the fruit of your wife's infidelity and raising the child of your wife's lover, which is not your case," George replied.  
"Yes I know. Perhaps my father was one of those poor moron, and I am my mother's bastard son with one of her lovers," said Lord Melbourne bitterly.  
George paled a little.  
"You know I do not mean that!" George protested in anguish.  
"I know... now answer me one thing, do you think Caroline stopped loving Lord Byron sometime? Even after he left her after she sacrificed everything for him, and despite the grudge she publicly expressed against him... Do you think she stopped loving him?" asked Lord Melbourne.  
"No, I do not think she stopped loving him. And did you really forgive her?" George replied.  
"You know it, no, our reconciliation was only apparent and for my son. But what matters is that once she became his lover, she forgot forever the love she had felt for me... Her heart was to him to death" said Lord Melbourne with the memory of an already healed wound.  
"And you think that's the case with Victoria? You fear that she has forgotten the love she felt for you, and that after having loved Albert she will never love you again, true?  
William, neither you nor me are inside Victoria's head and heart... the only way to find out is if you take the chance and give her a chance," George said.  
"I have no desire to take any chances," Lord Melbourne said wearily and sadly.  
"William, this is not just about you and about her... it's about our country. You can not allow the Duke of Cumberland to become King of England. You know better than me what that scoundrel has done in his Kingdom of Hanover, what the people of that unhappy country has suffered under his dictatorship. Tories and Whigs can have differences, but the vast majority agree that we want our present system of government, a Constitutional Monarchy, a Parliamentary Regime quite liberal, but at the same time guarantees the order and tradition. But that tyrant will put all that at risk", George said vehemently.  
"Great Britain is a country of laws and with a mature and free people, they will never allow it to establish a tyranny. The Absolute Monarchy will never return to Britain", Lord Melbourne replied, but deep down he felt concern and hesitation as he said it.  
"True, but that does not mean he do not try. And in the process he can drag this country to serious disorder and even a civil war... all those who want to subvert order, republicans, anarchists, socialists, radical Democrats... all of them can fish in troubled waters and try to harness for generate a revolutionary atmosphere with the excuse of fighting against a King with tyrannical pretensions. You saw what happened with the Chartists, that was just a warning of what could happen... Honestly, can you swear to me that that's not going to happen?" said George.  
"No I can not. But perhaps I have already given much to this country", replied Lord Melbourne depressed.  
"You think you've given enough for Britain!", exclaimed George indignantly approaching Lord Melbourne to face him "Then the country must sink by your damn pride hurt by lack of love, and because a libertine girl could not control her carnal desires!  
"Do not you dare talk about her like that!", Lord Melbourne shouted angrily as he held his friend by the collar of his shirt in a menacing gesture, "Never speak of her like that, or...!"  
"Or you're going to hit me!", George replied defiantly, "Strike me, that's what I want!... I will return the blows to you even take you away the stubbornness at punches! But in any case I win, because I proved my point... you still love her and that's what matters."  
"You're a child!", said Lord Melbourne loosening his shirt and away from him, "Do not you think we are old for those games of childhood that you provoke me to do or say something!"  
"But you keep falling. But what matters is that you still love her... you know that if she has to abdicate for this she will be destroyed. Humiliated and hated by the whole country, what will be her future? She will have to retire to some dark corner, to some country residence, with the assignment that a hostile Parliament wants to give her and perhaps with some small and dark nobility title that wants to give her the bastard of his uncle of Hanover, if he gives her any. Even her maternal family, those bastards from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha will turn their backs on her, for shame and when she no longer serves them. Do you really want to see the woman you love suffering that hell?", said George mercilessly.  
Lord Melbourne turned his back on him and went to the window, but he did not really see the gardens of Brocket Hall, for his mind was very overwhelmed.  
"And you, can you live after turning your back on your country and the woman you love ... Is this how you want to live the last years of your life?", George interpellated to him.  
Lord Melbourne closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the windowpane.  
Some time later, as dawn broke, Lord Melbourne was sitting behind his desk, while George (sitting in front of him with the desk between them) handed him a paper and a pen. Lord Melbourne took them.  
"You know you're doing the right thing," George said.  
Lord Melbourne grunted and then began to write. When he finished, he put the letter in an envelope and sealing the envelope with his official seal, he handed it to George.  
"Damn you George!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne, exhausted and without real hostility.  
"Thank you, Lord Melbourne!" George said mockingly, as he stood with the envelope in his hand.  
"George... thank you," Lord Melbourne said sincerely, seeing him rise to his feet.  
"You think with a simple thank you is enough! You'll have to make up me, for tonight, with a good banquet and whiskey of the best," George said with a wry smile.  
Lord Melbourne smirked, then leaned his head on the desk and closed his eyes.  
George peeked through the library door and asked a servant to call the butler, who was soon to come.  
"Robert, Lord Melbourne wants this letter to be urgently sent to Buckingham Palace, and delivered to King Leopold. It is necessary that it arrives soon at the hands of the King of the Belgians. Also the messenger who carries it must inform that Lord Melbourne is indisposed and will not be able to go to the Palace today, but tomorrow he will be at Her Majesty's disposal," George said to the butler, handing him the letter.  
"Yes, my Lord. I'll have a courier leave as soon as possible," replied the butler.  
"When you have sent the letter, I will need help to take your lord to his bed," George said as he opened the door a little further and pointed to Lord Melbourne slumped on his desk, snoring.  
"Sure, my Lord. And do not worry, I've already arranged that they prepare a guest bedroom for you. You can retire to rest when you wish," the butler replied with a friendly smile.  
"You are worth much more than what that stingy man pays you! If you ever get tired of working for that idiot come and work with me," George said mockingly as he yawned.  
After the messenger left, George and the butler took Lord Melbourne to his bedroom, each with an arm of Lord Melbourne around his own shoulders. When they arrived they let him fall on the bed, the butler took off to him his shoes and between them they settled his legs on the bed.  
"Lord George, the official despatches will soon arrive, the documents Lord Melbourne should review, and the daily affairs of the government which he ought to solve," said the butler as if he would wait for instructions.  
"Well, we can do very little... He is totally drunk and exhausted, and he had better sleep for several hours. I fear that the day-to-day affairs of our nation's government will be paralyzed for now, send a messenger to Dover House warning that Lord Melbourne is very sick and can not handle his agenda of today," George told him.  
"All right, my Lord."  
"I'm going to sleep, I'm not very well either," George concluded.  
On a lounge at Buckingham Palace, King Leopold was standing with his sister, the Duchess of Kent (mother of Victoria), she sitting.  
"And if that man does not accept?" asked the anguished Duchess.  
"Then I will have humiliated myself in vain, and your foolish daughter will lose her crown, and drag our entire family to humiliation and shame," Leopold replied, staring at a painting so as not to see his sister in the face.  
"It's not necessary to be hurtful with Drina... after all, we practically conspired for her to fall in love with Albert," the Duchess said regretfully.  
"I wanted her to marry Albert, not to get into bed with him before she got married!" exclaimed Leopold with boredom and anger.  
"Do not talk about her, like that!" the Duchess protested indignantly.  
"I speak as I please! I have earned it, after crawling before that petulant Lord Melbourne to beg he to wash your daughter's honor!" replied Leopold indignantly, seeing his sister in her eyes.  
"I know, forgive me... You say Lord Melbourne is very much in love with her, so I should not..." said the Duchess anxiously.  
"Love is a double-edged sword, my dear sister. At your age and with your experiences you should know. If jealousy and wounded pride prevail, if his heart is broken without remedy and his love becomes a bitterness and contempt for what your daughter did, anyway, let us hope that Lord Melbourne is more of the kind of fool in love than the kind of vengeful lover," Leopold said with a certain philosophy.  
It was a while before they knocked on the door, and Leopold gave permission for them to enter. It was Palace's butler, Mr. Penge.  
"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness... an urgent message has arrived for you, Your Majesty, from Lord Melbourne," Penge said in his usual and presumptuous manner.  
Leopold almost ripped the letter out of his hand.  
"Brocket Hall's messenger reported that Lord Melbourne is indisposed and will not be able to leave his house today, but that tomorrow he hopes to be able to attend any call to the Palace. With your permission I withdraw, Your Majesty," said Penge.  
"Yes, of course, you can retire," Leopold said.  
After politely saying goodbye and bowing slightly, Penge withdrew. Anxiously Leopold opened the envelope and read the letter, and a small smile of satisfaction came to his lips.  
"We have him, sister!" Leopold said almost triumphantly.  
"He accepted!", exclaimed the Duchess, jumping to her feet.  
"Yes! In the end could love more than wounded pride," added Leopold serene and cold but satisfied.  
"Thank God!" said the Duchess, as if a weight had been lifted from her.  
"Do not sing victory, yet. Now we have to face that stupid bureaucratic and ritualistic process in this country. If we were in Belgium or in our dear Saxe-Coburg everything would be simple, but these Englishmen like to complicate everything to infinity. Anyway, it's a shame that today Lord Melbourne can not come, for Victoria to make him the formal proposal, and he present his resignation. In this situation every minute is valuable," Leopold said coldly and calculatingly.  
"Is he really sick?" asked the Duchess with interest.  
"If, he is, I only hope he is not serious, or at least wait to die until after the wedding," Leopold said indifferently.  
"Leopold!" cried the Duchess scandalized.  
"Let's not waste time on nonsense! We have to talk to Victoria," Leopold concluded.  
Both went quickly to Victoria's private stays. They found her sitting on a couch in her bedroom antechamber, dressed in black, crying while Baroness Lehzen comforted her tenderly stroking her hair. The Duchess felt a pang of jealousy, as every time she saw that Baroness Lehzen was more than herself a mother for Victoria. Victoria was startled when she saw them coming.  
"My dear niece, we have good news," Leopold said.  
"Drina, Lord Melbourne agreed to marry you," said the Duchess of Kent.  
The faces of Victoria and Baroness Lehzen were covered with surprise and other conflicting emotions. Victoria was thrilled, and her eyes filled with tears again.  
"He is here!... He came to see me!" cried Victoria weeping as she rose to her feet.  
"No, Drina. He sent a letter to your uncle, and the messenger who brought it informed it, that he was indisposed and could not leave Brocket Hall today, but that tomorrow he hoped to be able to come to the Palace was necessary," said the Duchess.  
"Is he indisposed? ... Is it because of ...?" Victoria asked anguished.  
"Victoria, the conversation I had with him yesterday was not easy. For to give an answer today at such an early hour of the morning Lord Melbourne probably spent the whole night thinking... he must simply be tired and still shocked by the events. It is not easy to process what is happening... I still have trouble doing it. In any case, tomorrow you will have him here and you will be able to speak with him face-to-face. Now what matters is that he accepted, and we can start the process. It is imperative that the Duke of Wellington and above all Sir Robert Peel be informed so that he may be prepared for your convocation to entrust him with the formation of the new government. And preparations must be made to convene the Privy Council, there is no time to lose, niece," Leopold said with some impatience.  
"I know, uncle, I'm aware of the seriousness of the situation and my responsibilities," Victoria said, making an effort to regain her composure and calmness. "I'll immediately go to work to speed things up. I appreciate your efforts and yours Mama, I will never forget that in the most difficult moment of my life I have had my family by my side" Victoria said seriously and a little solemn. "I'm glad to hear it, niece, now the best thing I can do is go and talk to Peel and the Duke of Wellington myself, there are some things that better to talk about in person," Leopold said, and said goodbye.  
After a while, Victoria was sitting alone behind her desk, crying as she saw a miniature image of Albert in her hands.  
"My beloved Albert, forgive me... you know I have not forgotten you so soon, you know I could not do it. But you also know why I must, you know" said Victoria in a low voice and as she said the last words, she caressed her still slim belly, "Lord M", she continued as she looked away from the image of Albert and lifted her head to see the ceiling, "What are you thinking of me? Forgive me my beloved Lord M, forgive me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 3: A Painful Proposal of Marriage.


	3. A Painful Proposal of Marriage.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victoria must make her proposal to Lord Melbourne, but the shadow of Victoria's secret weighs on the encounter. An encounter in which the emotions will be in full bloom, threatening to create an abyss between both.

                                                                                      

Lord Melbourne walked with reluctance, as if it were difficult to take each step. He was dressed in a robe that he wore about a nightshirt. His face looked emaciated and his appearance was that of a sick man or that of one recovering from a great drunkenness. When he entered the dining room of the mansion, his friend Lord George was sitting at the table, finishing his meal. George greeted him with a broad smile. Lord Melbourne greeted him with a gesture of the hand that pretended to be dismissive but actually ironic. Lord Melbourne sank into a chair beside Lord George.

"At last you woke up! You're definitely a sluggish, It offends me to think my taxes are administered by a government run by you," George said mockingly.  
"Shut up idiot!... What time is it?", said Lord Melbourne hoarsely.  
Lord George took out his pocket watch and showed the hour to Lord Melbourne.  
"Dammit! Why did you all let me sleep so long? I have a lot of work accumulated," Lord Melbourne said with annoyance as he squeezed himself face with the palm of his hand.  
"You were destroyed, I saw no other remedy," George answered truthfully as he got into last bite of food into his mouth and then drank some wine and wiped his mouth with a napkin.  
"How can you be so fresh and healthy? My head hurts and I feel a little sick," Lord Melbourne said.  
"The trick is to eat enough to neutralize the effects of the liquor, and spend several days without barely drinking alcohol and devoting yourself to other pleasures," George replied with a wink. "About that waiter..." he said to a servant, "bring Lord Melbourne's food and enough coffee.  
The servant left at once.  
"I'm glad to see that the new 'Viscount of Melbourne' is comfortable in 'his' residence in Brocket Hall! " Lord Melbourne said sarcastically and mockingly.  
"Do not worry, my house in London is your house, as yours is mine," George answered jokingly, but honestly.  
"Did you come alone or brought...? " asked Lord Melbourne with the interest of a friend, but with difficulty finding the appropriate term.  
"My woman and my children? No, I left them at home... in our other house," George replied kindly, but Lord Melbourne did not miss that little shadow of discomfort or nervousness in his friend's gesture.  
Lord Melbourne looked at his friend with some healthy envy and some admiration, at the relatively carefree manner in which he lives his life, ignoring the criticism and the rules of society. If only I could be like him...  
George and Lord Melbourne talked while Lord Melbourne ate, and later when Lord Melbourne had coffee with his friend. George had prudently diverted the conversation to other subjects, ignoring the "big subject." But when they were talking about their old childhood friends, the butler of Brocket Hall entered the dining room.  
"Lord Melbourne, a message from the Palace," said the butler, extending his arm to deliver an envelope to Lord Melbourne.  
The atmosphere rarefied as Lord Melbourne, George, and even the butler grew tense. Lord Melbourne took the message and with a knife he took from the table he tore the envelope, and took out a letter written in delicate feminine calligraphy. Lord Melbourne frowned as he read in a quick, shallow way, skipping a few fragments to search for the points that interested him in the letter. Then he looked up to see the butler.  
"Tell the Buckingham messenger I'll be at the Palace first thing in the morning," Lord Melbourne said firmly.  
But the butler stayed quiet, waiting.  
"Anything else, Robert? " asked Lord Melbourne earnestly.  
"My Lord, it seems that Her Majesty thought that you were going to write an answer for her and it seems that the messenger was instructed to wait to take for your answer," said the butler as if it were an embarrassing situation for him, seeing the face of his employer.  
Lord Melbourne put an angry face on his face and, raising the paper, looked for something.  
"I see... tell the messenger to report to the Palace that I'm fine, that I only had a little malaise, but I'm healthy again. I will not send any letters, so the messenger can leave immediately. That's all," Lord Melbourne said in a tone that held no discussion, as he glanced sideways as George grimaced of reprobation.  
"Yes, my Lord."  
The butler came out.  
"You are a fool William! But I suppose you know that, "George said, then took a sip of his coffee.  
"Yes, I know, and everyone who knows me long enough knows it. Do you have something to do tomorrow morning? " Lord Melbourne asked with some indifference, but his face was tense.  
"No, nothing that can not wait," George replied with empathy, he imagining what Lord Melbourne was going to say.  
"I would like you to accompany me to Buckingham. I want to have a friend by my side on such a special occasion, in which 'it will ask for my hand in marriage' - said Lord Melbourne with painful sarcasm and bitterness.  
"It will be my honor," George replied sincerely and pleasantly.  
Some time later, Victoria was sitting in a hall of the Palace when Baroness Lehzen arrived to inform her of what the messenger said when he returned from Brocket Hall. She listened with anxiety on her face.  
"Lord Melbourne did not write an answer for me?" Victoria asked.  
"No, ma'am, the messenger did not receive any letter for you, it was told to him to report that Lord Melbourne is well and that he will come first thing in the morning, and that he could return because there was no letter to send on return... That was all, Your Majesty," replied Baroness Lehzen, her face cold, but with a slight concern reflected in her eyes.  
"I see..." Victoria said with disappointment and sadness on her face, and lowering her gaze, "Lehzen, you know that you are like my mother, even more than my own mother" and looked up to see her.  
"For me that's a pride, ma'am," Baroness Lehzen said, her voice a little broken and the emotion pouring into her face.  
"Lehzen, I'm afraid... I'm afraid of tomorrow's meeting. I'm afraid to see Lord M's gaze when I meet him, I'm afraid to see contempt and disappointment in his eyes" Victoria said taking Lehzen's hand as she did when she was a little girl and she was sad or frightened.  
"Drina... Majesty," Lehzen said, sitting down beside Victoria and shaking Victoria's hand in hers. "I do not know much about men, but I've known Lord Melbourne for a long time, and I've seen how he loves you. He may be hurt now, and he must feel puzzled and disappointed, but I'm sure that he still loves you, and I'm sure he'll understand and forgive you. And after all you are the Queen.  
"Lord M does not see me just as the Queen, he sees me as a woman, and that's one of the things I like about him... But now it's also one of the things I fear," Victoria replied.  
The next day Lord Melbourne and Lord George rode together toward Buckingham Palace. Both were tense, and Lord Melbourne also reflected the nervousness on his face. The two of them were barely talking as they approached the Palace, and as they crossed the door of the Royal building Lord Melbourne seemed that he was going to a trial where he could be sentenced to the Capital punishment. His mood worsened when they saw King Leopold and the Duchess of Kent waiting at the end of the entrance hall.  
"The witch and the sinister scarecrow! " George murmured, making Lord Melbourne smile.  
Lord Melbourne and his friend came within a few feet of Leopold and the Duchess, face to face with them.  
"Your Majesty," said Lord Melbourne, bowing slightly to Leopold, and then turned to see the Duchess. "Your Royal Highness."  
The Duchess of Kent extended an arm offering the back of her hand for Lord Melbourne to kiss her, while she smiled a hypocritical smile. Lord Melbourne had to restrain himself not to show a grimace of displeasure at the unexpected gesture of the Duchess (since she never offered him her hand to kiss her)... He knew that the Duchess had always despised and detested him, first because he had been best ally of Victoria when she challenged her, to free herself from her control (at the beginning of her reign), and then because she hated the idea that her daughter was in love with him and feared that she would refuse to marry with her nephew Albert. But now, out of interest, she hypocritically pretended, since they needed him. He felt used, and that annoyed him, but he had to bend his body to kiss the back of the woman's hand that gave him so much repulsion.  
"Your Majesty, Your Highness, allow me to introduce you to Lord George Mcphail, Earl of Enniscorthy, and an old friend," said Lord Melbourne, grudgingly obliged to present his friend.  
Lord George as Lord Melbourne greeted with a slight nod at the Belgian King and then with a kiss on the back of the hand to the Duchess.  
"Enniscorthy? " asked the Duchess with her false smile.  
"An Irish title, Your Highness. But I live in England, between Cornwall and London, but I do not frequent the salons of London society," said Lord George with humility and sincerity.  
"Do you work with Lord Melbourne in the government? " Leopold asked with his haughty manner.  
"No, Your Majesty. I am Tory," answered Lord George.  
"Tory! I never thought an intimate friend of Lord Melbourne was Tory," Leopold replied with some surprise.  
"I'm not so partisan, Majesty. At least as far as my personal affections are concerned," said Lord Melbourne.  
At that moment the palace butler, Mr. Page, approached them.  
"Lord Melbourne, Her Majesty is waiting for you," Mr. Page said.  
"Of course... with your permission Majesty, Your Highness, George," said Lord Melbourne addressing each of them and then walked behind Mr. Page.  
"Will you join us for tea, Lord George?" Leopold asked politely.  
"Of course, Your Majesty," Lord George replied gently, although in the background the idea caused him little enthusiasm.  
Mr. Penge drove Lord Melbourne down a long corridor, while Lord Melbourne, in his nervousness and moodiness, thought how ridiculous all this staging was, for in his many audiences and working meetings with Victoria there was not so much formalism. And he suspected that behind that display of formalism was the influence of Leopold and the Duchess. And when he saw Baroness Lehzen waiting for him outside the room where Victoria was, he cursed everyone.  
'All that's left is for the damn Albert to come out of his grave to welcome me, too, ' he thought with annoyance. Mr. Penge asked permission from Lord Melbourne and Baroness Lehzen to retire, and left them alone.  
"Baroness Lehzen," said Lord Melbourne, trying to sound gentle, but without much effort, his face serious and tense.  
"Lord Melbourne," said Baroness Lehzen, with an unusually friendly smile, for face as hard and cold as hers.  
They both fell silent for a moment. In the background Lord Melbourne had always felt some sympathy for Baroness Lehzen, although the feeling was not mutual. Lord Melbourne appreciated Lehzen's love and devotion for Victoria, and he thought it was precisely the overprotective instinct of the Baroness with her adopted daughter who made her rough with him, suspecting his intentions. That's why he tried to be nice to her, but that day he had no desire to be charming to anyone, not even patient. But now the roles had been reversed, for it was the Baroness who seemed to want to be nice to him, not quite knowing how.  
"Lord Melbourne, the Queen is eager to..." Baroness Lehzen said in a friendly tone.  
"You do not think this is a déjà vu, Baroness," replied Lord Melbourne.  
"A déjà vu, Lord Melbourne?", Lehzen asked confused.  
"Yes, it reminds me of that day in Kensington, when my first audience with the Queen. You left me waiting in a room, you went to speak to Her Majesty and then came back to tell me that she could receive me, and she received me alone, to your disgust, for you expected to attend the meeting as a chaperone," said Lord Melbourne coldly and expressionless.  
"Oh, that! Well, a lot of things have changed, Lord Melbourne. But I did not do it in bad faith," Lehzen replied, embarrassed, with a shy smile.  
"I know, Baroness. You always think of Her Majesty's welfare. But today I would not mind you joining us and being present at the meeting," Lord Melbourne told him.  
Baroness Lehzen laughed, with a small nervous laugh, thinking that Lord Melbourne said it as a joke. But when she saw the hard gesture on Lord Melbourne's face, she fell silent and felt uncomfortable.  
"Lord Melbourne, I do not think it would be convenient that someone... for what Her Majesty and you should talk about, it's better if you two are alone," said the Baroness.  
Lord Melbourne saw her with a look that left the Baroness bewildered and somewhat intimidated.  
"Her Majesty awaits you, Lord Melbourne," said the Baroness, regaining her seriousness and giving up her attempt to approach Lord Melbourne.  
Lord Melbourne thanked her, and while the Baroness stepped aside, he opened the door and entered the room, closing the door behind him.  
Victoria had her back to the door, wringing her hands in a sign of nervousness. When she heard the door open, she turned and anxiously saw Lord Melbourne entering the room. Victoria stepped forward, but Lord Melbourne walked toward her with more vigor and speed. When he reached her, Victoria made a gesture as if she thought he was going to hug her and she was ready to receive his embrace. But Lord Melbourne dropped one knee to the ground and stood in the position where he used to stand to kiss her hand. After a moment of embarrassment Victoria offered him her hand and he kissed the back of her hand, a kiss that was barely a touch of the lips, shorter and less affectionate than usual. Then he stood up with skill and stepped back several steps to establish a greater space between them than usual.  
"Your Majesty," Lord Melbourne said, and his face was hard and cold, with no trace of the lovely, affectionate gesture he used with her.  
"Lord... Lord M," Victoria said, her voice cracked with emotion, a lump in her throat.  
They both remained silent for a few moments that seemed eternal.  
"Ma'am, do you think it opportune that we should sit down?" Lord Melbourne asked in a calm but serious voice.  
"Of course," Victoria replied.  
Victoria sat on a chair and Lord Melbourne waited for her to be seated, to sit in front of her in another chair. They were seated the way they used to when they talked about various subjects (from State matters to personal issues) in their private audiences. Only this time there was no enthusiasm and joy but a tension that made the air between them unbreathable.  
"Ma'am, I think we must begin with the most peremptory thing.... I present to you my resignation as Prime Minister of Your Majesty's Government," Lord Melbourne said solemnly.  
"And I accept your resignation, Lord Melbourne. With the eternal gratitude of your Queen, for your loyal service to her and the country. You taught me to be Monarch, and I'll never forget that," Victoria said excitedly, her eyes moist.  
"I think we've worked well together, Your Majesty," said Lord Melbourne, who, despite his anger, could not help feeling a little touched, and made an effort to keep the tears from appearing in his eyes.  
"Undoubtedly, Lord M," Victoria said, and some tears were already streaming down her cheeks.  
"I suppose you would summon Sir Robert Peel today to commission him for the formation of the new government," Lord Melbourne continued, trying to divert the conversation away from emotion.  
"I will do so Lord M," she replied.  
Again an uneasy silence between them, as Victoria gathered her strength to speak and lamented that Lord Melbourne's eyes, those eyes that seemed so beautiful to her, refused to see her directly and shunned her. She also lamented that he was so cold and serious with her, even a little hostile, instead of being charming and loving as ever, which only made things more difficult for her.  
"Lord M, I... I..." Victoria was overcome by emotion, almost pouting, so Lord Melbourne could not help but look her in the eye. "I do not know where to begin, I do not know how..."  
"Ma'am, if allow me to give you some advice. There are uncomfortable or difficult situations in which it is best to approach the problem in a pragmatic way, and go straight to the point... It is clear that you have something to ask me, it is absurd to pretend ignorance... so the best thing is to do it, if that is your wish, as they have communicated to me," said Lord Melbourne as a teacher who tries to explain something to a student little applied, doing an effort not to lose patience.  
"Yes, of course," Victoria answered, encouraged by Lord Melbourne's words, but at the same time ungratefully surprised by his lack of affection for his conduct, "Lord Melbourne... Lord Melbourne, would you do me the honor of being my husband? " Victoria asked, not sure that these were the right words to make the proposal, trembling with emotion, and with tears running down her cheeks.  
Lord Melbourne saw her for a moment of silence, which made Victoria more nervous.  
"I will do it, ma'am... For me it will be an honor to be Your Majesty's husband," replied Lord Melbourne with feigned courtesy and no shred of joy, as if he were a soldier in a war and asked him if he would volunteer on a suicide mission.  
Victoria felt mixed emotions, on the one hand, she felt relief and a certain satisfaction, but on the other hand she felt something hurt by the lack of emotion and the anger that seemed to feel Lord Melbourne.  
"Thank you, Lord M! The honor will be mine... " Victoria said with a sweet smile and tender gesture on the face "Lord M, I would like... I owe you an explanation... An explanation, about 'my current situation'... I need to tell you what happened, because I know my behavior should seem to you..." said Victoria very nervous and anxious, but determined.  
"Ma'am!" said Lord Melbourne loudly and firmly, startling Victoria a little. "You do not have to tell me your intimacy, you do not have to put your modesty aside with me," he added seriously.  
"But Lord M you have a right to know! It's something that concerns you, too, if you're going to marry me" Victoria replied in surprise and as if she tried desperately to explain her actions to a person offended by them. "And I care what you think of my! That's why I need to explain...  
"Ma'am! You know that I am not a particularly religious man, but there is a passage from the Bible that I really like, which is one that says there is a time for everything in life... A time to love and another to hate, one to build and another to destroy, and so on... Believe me, ma'am, when I tell you that if there is a moment for your confession, it is not this one... Believe me that talking about it right now, would not do to you or me or anyone else, any good. I'm not prepared to hear it, and you're probably not ready to say it. It is better to wait for the right moment.  
Victoria saw with surprise a face of Lord Melbourne that she did not know, that of a man raging with jealousy, and who barely kept control of himself so as not to be carried away by indignation.  
"I understand, Lord M," Victoria said, looking him down in embarrassment. "I just want you to know that I would never offend you or hurt you intentionally."  
Lord Melbourne was silent, and Victoria looked up to see him.  
"But there is one thing I must tell you... I promise you, I swear by my life and my honor, that I will be a devoted, faithful and loving wife..." Victoria said, very touched, crying, and with a sad puppy expression on her face, while stretched out her arm and placed her little hand on Lord Melbourne's hand. "I will consecrate my life to make you happy, and to bring you the warmth and peace of a home. I want you to feel satisfied and proud of your wife."  
Victoria saw that Lord Melbourne saw her with a somber, sad expression, with no emotion in his eyes, and then as he looked away again. At no point did he attempt to take her hand resting on his hand...  
"Ma'am, my experience in life has made me understand that it is better to go to marriage without expectations. The greater the expectations, the greater the chances of failure. It is better not to expect anything, and so maybe you can get something positive... and if no, it will not hurt so much, because you did not expect anything. In an older man like me, caution replaces the passion of the young," said Lord Melbourne with sadness and bitterness.  
Victoria was distressed to hear him, and withdrew her hand slowly.  
"In any case, ma'am, what is at stake is much greater than our lives and our own happiness. That must always be in our minds," said Lord Melbourne with the same coolness with which he would speak of a state affair.  
"I understand... Lord M, now that we are engaged in marriage, if you wish, you can call me Victoria... It's just a little strange that you still call me Majesty or ma'am," Victoria said with a shy and sweet smile, and with a gesture almost pleading in the face.  
"Excuse me, but you know I'm a bit outdated... I'd rather that until the day of our marriage things go on as they are, and we'll apply the rules of etiquette, out of respect for tradition, ma'am," replied Lord Melbourne.  
"I see," said Victoria sadly and disappointed to see that he refused another attempt at rapprochement on her part.  
"Ma'am, I think we have a lot of work ahead, of us to get this marriage done. I must do my part and that's why if we do not have anything else to talk about ..." said Lord Melbourne.  
"You're leaving! But can you have dinner with us tonight at the Palace? " Victoria asked anxiously.  
"I doubt it, ma'am, I have many things to do today to prepare the transfer of power to Peel and also to arrange my release as leader of the Whig Party. Everything has been so unforeseen, it will require a lot of work, from me. I probably have to work late into the night. I'm sorry," Lord Melbourne answered.  
"I see," Victoria replied sadly and disappointed. "Then I will not take you any longer," Victoria added, standing up regaining some dignity.  
Lord Melbourne stood and Victoria extended her arm so that he would kiss her hand, for she had no hope of him wanting to kiss her cheek. Lord Melbourne took Victoria's hand, but to her surprise, he held her in his hands, stroking her.  
"There is one thing you must understand about marriage, ma'am," said Lord Melbourne without daring to see her, his gaze on her hand, which he stroked in his hands. "Even when there is love, it is something tremendously difficult... It is something which is built day after day, it is about knowing and understanding the feelings of the other person, it is about recognizing the signs, reading between lines and interpreting the silences. It is about faith, and to avoid disappointment... Because of the disappointment pain is born... and the pain is something extraordinary, ma'am. It arises from disappointment and feeds on resentment and frustration but the most extraordinary ma'am... " he added while put his mouth over her hand and gave her a kiss on the back of hand "it is that the greatest and genuine pain, can only be caused by the people we really love," concluded Lord Melbourne and lifted his head to see her, and then Victoria shuddered to see his eyes wet, his tears on the verge of overflowing.  
Then Lord Melbourne let go of Victoria's hand and turning his back on her, hurried to the door, hurriedly opened it and he hurried off, almost running away from her. Victoria went after him...  
"Lord M, please wait!... Do not go! " cried Victoria, crying, but when she looked out she saw that he was already far away.  
Lord Melbourne went to the drawing-room where Leopold, the Duchess of Kent, and Lord George. He excused himself quickly and rather roughly, with the King and the Duchess, and almost dragged George out.  
Lord Melbourne and George waited for the servants to bring their horses, while Victoria saw from the window of the room where she had the interview with Lord Melbourne. When they brought the animals, Lord Melbourne climbed his horse with audacity and agility. Lord Melbourne looked up and saw Victoria at the window, their eyes meeting in the distance. Lord Melbourne spurred his horse roughly, and the horse did a courbette, and then set off on a speedy ride, amidst the protests and curses of Lord George who was barely climbing his mount. Victoria saw Lord Melbourne's horse walk away, weeping disconsolately. Baroness Lehzen came into the room and approached her.  
"Your Majesty, are you all right?" Lehzen asked with concern.  
"Lehzen, I've hurt him! ... He's suffering because of me! " cried Victoria, sobbing and pouting, as she threw herself into the arms of her former governess, who embraced her tightly "I do not deserve his love!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 4: Lust will not set me free.


	4. Lust will not set me free.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his hasty departure from the Palace, Lord Melbourne is still sunk in the darkness. His friend George will try to ease his pain, and propose a mechanism of evasion. But the wound that Victoria caused in him is too great.

Lord Melbourne and Lord George arrived at Lord George's mansion in London at dusk. Both were very serious, even angry, especially Lord Melbourne.  
"What a day!... At least you could tell me something, after spending all day looking for you all over London... first you leave the Palace as a soul that the devil carries, knowing that I don't ride as well as you. When I get to you, after you deign to stop the race and wait for me, you tell me you have a lot of business to do and then we'll see each other at Dover House... When I go for you to Dover House, you went away to Parliament, and I'm going there, but from there you went to a meeting of your party in a club of those where you go the damn Whigs... Anyway, I had to search to you all over the city until I found you and at no time did you say more than a pair of monosyllables. I do not ask you much, just something like: 'How was your day George?' " George said, mixing sarcasm, anger and a mocking tone.  
Lord Melbourne did not answer and walked in silence.  
"Okay, I get it... Do not worry, I'm only here for when you want to talk," George added as they walked through the front door of the mansion.  
A middle-aged man, plump and with fat and flushed cheeks, went out to meet them both. It was Joseph, the butler of Lord George's mansion.  
"My Lord... Lord Melbourne is a pleasure to see you," said Joseph very sympathetically.  
"Hello Joseph, I'm happy to see you too," Lord Melbourne replied, trying to sound kind, but he was serious.  
"William, advance to the library, while I give Joseph instructions," George told Lord Melbourne.  
William went in the direction of Lord George's library, while George spoke to Joseph.  
"William is going through a very hard time, Joseph. He is very angry and depressed, with his spirit on the ground. We have to be a little patient and sympathetic to him," George said with concern.  
"I'm sorry to hear that, my Lord. You know that I sincerely appreciate Lord Melbourne," Joseph answered truthfully.  
"I know, Joseph. But for now I can only try to get William's mind stripped of that dark cloud that torments him. In the meantime, you order them to bring Lord Melbourne and me a bottle of the best whiskey, and food, you know, which I like when I drink. But first I'm going to write a message so you can send it urgently to Mr. Carter, with customary discretion," George said, with a certain tone of a conspirator in the end.  
"Of course, my Lord," Joseph replied with a knowing look and a discreet and understanding gesture on his face.  
After giving instructions to Joseph, Lord George sighed and went to the library where Lord Melbourne was waiting for him. They both sat in armchairs, chatting while they drank. After a few minutes Lord Melbourne began to open his soul and tell his childhood friend, his lifelong confidant, the details of his painful conversation with Victoria.  
"William, I can not say what you should do, I can only give you my opinion as someone who loves you like a brother... But according to what you tell me, she was worried about your feelings, and from your words it seems clear that she wants to be a good wife and make you happy, or at least try. You know her better than I do, and you will know if it seemed to you that she spoke sincerely, and if so: why not give her a chance? " said George.  
"Tell me... how can I forget that she loves Albert and was in his arms? What she expects a son of him!" replied Lord Melbourne with rancor and anguish.  
"She wanted to explain it to you, William, you did not leave her," George replied as a fair man with Victoria.  
"What a damn explanation her conduct may have! Any explanation ends with her in... on the bed of the damned Prince Albert," exclaimed Lord Melbourne exalted.  
George saw Lord Melbourne sitting in an armchair, legs crossed and a glass of whiskey in one hand, his face red with rage and liquor. George knew that Lord Melbourne allowed himself to be stripped of his face of habitual serenity and emotional self-control, and to show his true emotions in all their intensity, with very few people, and he was perhaps the only person with whom his friend dared to show everything his pain and his anger. And what he saw did not like anything, because he had seen his friend so badly only on two previous occasions, and now he was even worse, which caused him great concern.  
"William, I know that your situation is not easy, and that is why I can only advise you to have patience, a lot of patience, and trust in time... Time is the solution, time will allow you to see things in perspective and cure your pain and your rancor. In time you can forgive the lack of Victoria, or at least understand her. I only beg you as your friend, as your heart brother, do not rush and do not make things worse with Victoria... William, you are the best man I have ever met in my life, and you are very reasonable and generous when it comes to judging the people... How can you not be with the woman you love? Remember what your mother always said you, and what she said about you: 'William is the strongest man in the world, because it takes a lot of strength to see the weaknesses of your fellow men and to have the generosity of not judging them with excessive severity, even knowing that you're better than them' " George said with affection and understanding.  
"Appeal on my mother's memory is a blow below the belt, George. I know what you're trying to do, to remind me that, despite her behavior, her many faults, she loved me and I loved her," Lord Melbourne said with resignation and a certain sadness.  
"You know I loved your mother, that I adored her. I would never mention her to you, except with respect and admiration ... And I do it for your well-being," replied George truthfully.  
"I know, George, but you're wrong... The difference between my mother and Victoria, aside from the obvious one about the nature of the relationship, is that my mother loved me, and Victoria..." Lord Melbourne answered, without finishing the sentence.  
"Do not you think a woman can love more than one man in her life?" George asked as if he would offer comfort to his friend.  
"Do you think a woman can fall in love again with a man she stopped loving?" replied Lord Melbourne.  
"Do you think Victoria stopped loving you?" George countered.  
"I prefer to think that she no longer loved me when she slept with Albert... otherwise it would be more embarrassing and less acceptable. A woman who sleeps with a man without being married to him, without being bound by the bond of marriage, and she being in love with another man... that is difficult to justify, at least for the man who loves her - explained Lord Melbourne with bitterness.  
Lord Melbourne drank the contents of a glass full of whiskey, and then poured himself another drink, which he drank in half.  
"And as long as she loves me again... you know what I think. And with a memory of her love for him living among us day after day for the rest of our lives," Lord Melbourne said bitterly, evidently referring at child who Victoria was waiting.  
George leaned back in his armchair and drank a drink as he saw the anguish and sadness in Lord Melbourne.  
"William, if all this goes well... if Peel, Wellington, Leopold and yourself get that the marriage be approved, and Victoria and you get married... What are you going to do?... What will happen?" George asked in the interest of a worried friend or brother.  
"I do not know... I suppose I die. To live a few years and then to leave Victoria suitably widowed to find happiness," replied William depressed, gloomily.  
"Do not say that William! " George exclaimed sadly as he looked around, so he could not see his friend.  
"George, do you think I hate her? " asked Lord Melbourne seeing his friend, who looked back at him, "I still love her... I love her more than my life! I would gladly give my life for her. And that's why it hurts so much, George... it hurts because I feel that I've lost her, although it is assumed I'm closer than ever to have her. It hurts me because one day she proposed that I be her companion in life, and although I had to reject her, I had the consolation to know that she loved me. But then Albert appeared and she broke my heart, broke it falling so fast in love with him and proposing marriage to him when the words she said in Brocket Hall had not yet dissipated. But I swallowed my damn pain, swallowed my sadness and my pride, tried to put my best face and fulfill my duty as her Prime Minister, so that she could walk to the altar to surrender to another man. And I drowning in the damn liquor to anesthetize my pain... "  
George saw that Lord Melbourne was unburden as he had seldom done in his life, releasing all the pain he had accumulated in his heart, and that with every word his bitterness and rage increased.  
"With each step she gave to her marriage, I took a step further into hell, feeling that I was sinking into a dark abyss of suffering. And then one day a mad condemned man shot the clockwork prince, believing that with that he was going to unleash the Revolution on the German principalities... And I swear to you, George, I felt compassion for him and for Victoria, of course. And I felt remorse because deep down I felt a perverse joy because I was not going to lose Victoria, 'to my' Victory. Until the day before yesterday, when that measly Leopold told me that she was pregnant with him... Pregnant! Do you know what I felt George? ... I felt a damn pain in my chest! As if that cursed Leopold would have shove his hand in my chest and he had take out my heart out in front of me" said Lord Melbourne banging his chest with his clenched fist, "and I felt disgust, anger and rancor! And since then, I have no peace, I feel that tightness in my chest, I feel that discomfort in my stomach and that weight in my head, that feeling that my brain is going to explode at any moment... But the worst of all, is that every once I close my eyes come to my mind images of Victoria naked in bed with him, being possessed by him... the woman who wanted to be my companion, who said she loved me, is in those visions in my head, giving her virginity to another man, without waiting to be married to him, forgetting the decency, her modesty of woman and even her duty as Queen... And now I must marry her, to wash her honor... An honor that I have not stained ! And the man she loved so much that she was capable of sacrificing her virtue, that man will live with us, be present in his son or daughter, and every time I see that child I will remember that Victoria loved so much to him, and I will ask myself if what she feels for me is as great as what she felt for him, or it is simply obligation or gratitude what compels her to be with me... And that is why the damn Albert in the end has triumphed, from the grave he won the war and mocked me and will make fun of me for the rest of my life... Albert, that damned prince of tin, that ridiculous puppet, that petulant and sanctimonious marionette, with his airs of grandeur and his stupid way of talking... that fool with ice in his veins, that accursed foreigner who dared to teach me about England... To me! That sinister scarecrow who looked at me with contempt, that damned spoiled child, that... Damn bastard! " Lord Melbourne concluded with a shriek, and in a fit of fury he struck the small table between them, causing the bottle of whiskey in it to fall to the ground and break into pieces.  
Lord Melbourne covered his face with one hand, and his body trembled with emotion. A servant who had heard the bottle break, opened the library door cautiously after tapping softly, but Lord George motioned for him to withdraw and the man closed the door.  
Lord Melbourne was silent for a few minutes, regaining the serenity and composure. Then he removed his hand from his face and saw George with red eyes, evidence that he had cried or at least suppressed the crying.  
"I'm sorry, George," he said with sincerity and shame.  
"Do not worry... It is a pity that you were not so passionate in governing England, because we would already own the whole world. But you preferred to be a missy as Prime Minister," George said mockingly and winked.  
"Damned idiot! " Lord Melbourne exclaimed, unable to stop himself from laughing, touched by the fact that he knew his friend was using a sense of humor to relieve his pain, "that's why my mother adored you!  
They both laughed, and in Lord Melbourne laughter mingled with tears, for he felt many conflicting emotions amidst his depression.  
After a while, they both spoke more calmly.  
"Do you remember when Lydia died?" George asked with deep sadness.  
"How to forget it? " Lord Melbourne answered, feeling compassion for his friend.  
"You did not let me die then... I'll never let you die," George said, closing his eyes.  
"I know, you saved me twice... I only one," Lord Melbourne replied, his voice broken with emotion.  
"Who's counting! " exclaimed George.  
A few minutes later the knock came at the door, and George gave permission for butler Joseph to enter.  
"My lord, the young ladies you were waiting for arrived," Joseph said in a tone of discretion.  
"Magnificent! Make them pass, Joseph," George replied.  
When the butler came out, Lord Melbourne saw George with alarm, and some anger.  
"Ladies! What ladies? " asked Lord Melbourne nervously.  
"You calm!... Relax," George answered.  
Before Lord Melbourne could continue to demand explanations, two beautiful young women entered the library when Joseph opened the door for them.  
One was blonde and of medium stature, with a nice face and large breasts that looked in a neckline more or less generous. The other was a little taller, with white skin and dark hair, with a face more beautiful than her companion's, and similarly large breasts. Both of them were dressed quite elegantly, almost like two ladies from high society. The women bowed.  
"My Lords, my name is Catherine and that of my companion Georgiana, at your service," said the dark-haired woman.  
"It's a pleasure, ladies. I am Lord Peter and my friend is Lord Charles," said George.  
After the introduction, George cordially invited the women to sit down and drink something. Lord Melbourne also behaved kindly, but to a good observer it was evident that he was uncomfortable. The four of them began a lively chat, in which it became evident that George was more interested in the blonde, while the brunette was interested in Lord Melbourne, who, with kindness, but a certain distance responded to her advances.  
At one point in the night, Lord Melbourne took George aside.  
"George, these women are prostitutes," said Lord Melbourne with a certain tone of complaint.  
"I'm glad to see you're still insightful! " George said mockingly.  
"Do not be funny! I'm not in the mood for these things... You really think I want to be with a prostitute today... Today! " exclaimed Lord Melbourne in a low voice.  
"I think you're in the perfect frame of mind... Do not you want to stop thinking about Victoria? Even if it's a while!... You need to channel your anger and frustration into something that gives you pleasure... You have to take out that man who lives in you and that you constantly repress... Damn it! Allow yourself to be human tonight, and forget your duty... You need a rematch, a rematch against everyone, even against Victoria, especially against her. Tonight, try to be a libertine and decadent aristocrat, try to do what any rich or poor man does when a woman breaks his heart... forget it in the arms of a whore. And you will see that tomorrow you will feel a little better, after showing your manhood in the arms of a woman who cares only for you for to fuck, without feelings, without jealousy, without pain," George replied with some vehemence.  
"Did you rehearse that speech? " asked Lord Melbourne with sarcasm and a little anger.  
"Do what you want! No one will force you to sleep with the whore, but choose if you prefer to spend the night crying and feeling humiliated, or you want to send the devil everything and behave like a damn man... I would not hesitate if I were in your place," said George as if he were rebuking him, and then turned away from him to walk toward the women, while Lord Melbourne saw them.  
After a while, George had left with the blonde to his bedroom, leaving Lord Melbourne alone with the brunette, both sitting on a sofa in a room.  
"My lord, forgive the question... but why are you so sad?" Catherine said softly.  
"Do I look sad? " said Lord Melbourne seriously and depressed.  
"Yes, and also angry... I'm sure normally you are not like that, I'll bet you're usually a charming man," Catherine replied.  
"Today maybe it's been one of the worst days of my life, so maybe it's not the best day for me to be in company of... humans. Maybe now I would be better surrounded by the beasts or just alone," said Lord Melbourne bitterly.  
"It's a pity, my lord. Because, you are a very handsome man, if you let me say it, and I feel that you are also a passionate man, and that any woman would be happy to be in your arms," Catherine said in a seductive voice and an insinuating gesture on her face.  
"Do you really believe what you say? " asked Lord Melbourne with disbelief in his voice.  
"Do you say it because I'm a prostitute? My lord, I have no habit of lying to my clients. When I am in front of an ugly, ugly-looking or even repulsive customer, I prefer to remain silent or talk about other things, but not lie to him. I never say a compliment with hypocrisy," Catherine answered in a calm but firm voice.  
"I'm sorry, Miss... As I told you, I'm not a good company today, it's not the best day to meet me," Lord Melbourne apologized sadly.  
"My lord, you do not have to apologize. We've all had horrible days. But what I told you is true, you are a very handsome man and I also believe that you have an inner fire... a passion that perhaps today is very dark, but that any woman would be happy to know anyway," Catherine insisted sensuously, coming closer to him.  
"A cultured woman, besides beautiful... Is it possible that you have so much interest in this idiot who speaks to you? " Lord Melbourne answered in a slightly derisive tone, but he could not help showing some excitement.  
Catherine came over and kissed him on the lips, a soft sweet kiss, but exciting. Lord Melbourne let her do it.  
"Does that answer my lord? " she asked as she broke the kiss, the excitement in her eyes.  
"Do you want to go up? " Lord Melbourne asked with a dark gaze, lascivious gesture on his face.  
"Of course, my lord," she replied with an impudent smile that promised a lot.  
The rest happened hasty. Lord Melbourne and Catherine went up to the guest bedroom they had reserved for Lord Melbourne. No sooner had they crossed the door than Lord Melbourne pushed her against a wall and put his hands on her breasts above her cleavage and squeezed them. They kissed passionately on the lips, desperately.  
Eagerly, Lord Melbourne took Catherine's clothes off, while she helped, partly to avoid, that in his despair he will hurt her dress. She helped him to undress, with the skill of who is accustomed to such chores.  
Both being totally naked, Lord Melbourne pushed her and made her fall back to back on the bed. Like a hungry beast he threw himself on her and buried his head in Catherine's crotch, and he practiced cunnilingus.  
Catherine squirmed excitedly as Lord Melbourne stimulated her. After a moment, Lord Melbourne slid over Catherine's naked body, and began to kiss and suck on her breasts. He was anxious, desperate, hungry... behaved aggressively, almost violently, and in his frenzy almost hurt Catherine, but she instead of complaining she enjoyed. It was not long before he penetrated her...  
He did it rudely, almost with rage. Despite being moist with sexual excitement, Catherine felt pain from the rough way he penetrated her, and reflected it on her face. But at once she began to enjoy it, to complain, to gasp and to howl with pleasure, while Lord Melbourne lunge against her.  
With her legs up, with her feet in the air, Catherine received grateful the thrust of Lord Melbourne, who in a rhythmic and frantic movement kept penetrating her. As he did so, bursts of images came to mind, of fictitious visions of a naked Victoria being penetrated by Albert, and then he reacted angrily, trying to remove those images from his head, and with his body "attacked" the body of Catherine with more fury. The woman's whining were already screams, and she hugged Lord Melbourne, clung tightly to him. Until she uttered a cry and reached the climax, shortly before Lord Melbourne reached his own and poured his seed into her. They recovered and they did it again, again and again...  
When they were exhausted, Catherine rested naked about Lord Melbourne's naked body, who watching the woman...  
"Excuse me if I hurt you," said Lord Melbourne, pointing to a few bruises on the woman's body, which he had occasioned by holding her violently during the sexual act.  
"Do not worry, my lord. It was worth it," Catherine replied, with a lascivious smile of satisfaction, then kissed Lord Melbourne.  
They began to talk about the woman's life, and she told him that she was from Wales, from a poor family, and that after getting pregnant when she was very young (and father of her child abandoned her) her father ran her off his house. Thus began the path that led her to be a prostitute and ended up living in London, where she worked for a luxury pimp that provided girls to very wealthy clients. All to give her child a better life. Lord Melbourne listened with interest, asked several questions and was very kind, but his mind was far from there.  
"How is she?... The woman who makes my lord suffer so much," Catherine asked affectionately and sympathetically.  
Lord Melbourne sighed, a sad sigh.  
"She's much younger than me, in fact, she's so young that she could be my daughter. It is even a few years younger than you... It is beautiful, not beautiful in a way spectacular and very sensual, if not a way more discreet and natural, but anyway it seems to me the most beautiful woman in the world, with her beautiful eyes, her sweet face and her small but beautiful body... She is intelligent, cultured, cheerful and brave... but she is also stubborn, impetuous, indiscreet and inconstant... so inconstant that after declaring her love for me, ended up falling in love with another man. Although I must admit that it was partly my fault, for ward off her from me, for her own sake... But now that other man left her life forever and I... I am forced to rescue her, to save her honor," said Lord Melbourne without being able to avoid unburden, although he feared to be talking too much, although that woman did not know its true identity.  
"From what you tells me, she gave her virtue as a maid to that other man... If that is what torments my lord, you must remember that for a woman is much more important her last man than the first. The definitive man, the one who ultimately stays with a woman and gives her heart, that is much more important than the one who took her virginity. At least for most women... and if it is for fear that she can not love you, for loving to the other man, she should be a real fool not to love a man like you," Catherine said sympathetically, trying reassure him  
"Thank you very much! You're charming," Lord Melbourne replied with a smile.  
But later, when Catherine slept beside him, Lord Melbourne had his eyes fixed on the ceiling, unable to stop thinking about Victoria. Elsewhere in the city, in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace, Victoria could not sleep either, crying inconsolably. Embracing the telescope that Lord Melbourne gave her on one of her birthdays, Victoria was crying and pouting. Dash was on the bed and licked Victoria's face, as if the dog tried to comfort his owner.  
"My poor Lord M! ... Since he met me he has done nothing but love me and protect me, and sacrifice for me. And I have only paid him with pain... and my beloved Albert, it seems that I brought the misfortune to his life... I am a curse to all men who love me and whom I have loved!... Dash, this night he is suffering!... My dear Lord M, where will you be?... How will you be? "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 5: The Argument in the Council.


	5. The Argument in the Council.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The projected wedding of Lord Melbourne and Victoria faces its first major obstacle, and the couple is still separated by the pain. How will Lord Melbourne react?

The next day, at dawn, the pimp arrived at Lord George's mansion in a carriage to pick up the prostitutes. Catherine and Lord Melbourne waved affectionately in the bedroom, when she finished dressing. Lord Melbourne peered discreetly out the window and saw Catherine climb into the carriage with the other girl.  
Some time later Lord Melbourne and Lord George were sitting in a small hall of the mansion, sharing an informal breakfast.  
"So... how was your night?" asked George, with a seemingly innocent expression on his face, but with a slight mocking smile.  
"Good... what about yours?" said Lord Melbourne seemingly seriously.  
"Very good! Pleasant enough... if you do want to know," George replied shamelessly.  
"Curious, George... it's funny that being so in love with your... your lady, you can enjoy the pleasure with other women, even prostitutes," Lord Melbourne said in a more thoughtful, than reproachful way.  
"That is because for me my fidelity to the woman I love is not a matter of the body but of the soul... my heart is for one woman, but my body is for many women... My fidelity is not to abstain from enjoying pleasure with other women, my fidelity is in loving and protecting the woman I really want. But you would not understand that, of course," George replied.  
"You know I'm not a sanctimonious or puritan hypocrite, but I do love a woman, I prefer to be faithful in everything. I was only unfaithful to Caroline when she was unfaithful to me... that was the same moment when I stopped loving her... Obviously you do not understand it because you adapt everything to your convenience, to the convenience of your appetites... Anyway, I will not deny that the experience of last night was pleasant but also was an inopportune risk, if the press learns that the The Queen's fiancé was frolicking with a prostitute, would be a disaster," said Lord Melbourne as if he were warning of a serious danger.  
"The fiancée of the Queen? I'm glad you're getting the idea, my dear friend!" said George in amusement.  
"Do not be silly, George! You know that in the morning I'm not in a good mood, and less in these days. Why do not you tell me what the newspapers say today?" Lord Melbourne said impatiently.  
"Well, while you set about resting from last night's strenuous adventure, I had time to glance at some newspapers..." George said, picking up some newspapers from a chair beside him, and setting them on the table, next to the breakfast plates. "The press is generally surprised by your sudden resignation, and by the fact that Her Majesty, your future wife..." when George made that unnecessary clarification Lord Melbourne made a grimace of displeasure on his face "...has commissioned the formation of the new government to Peel. And certainly in some newspapers there are rumors coming from confidential sources of a wedding between Queen Victoria and her former prime minister Lord Melbourne. And of course, the first criticisms are already coming."  
"Let me guess!... Opportunist, social climber, ambitious unscrupulous, aspiring king without crown, irresponsible, intriguing... things like that are what they say about me, right?" Lord Melbourne said with sarcasm and some bitterness.  
"Yes, you know how some journalists and chroniclers are... but it was something predictable, it is the negative side of being the country with the greatest freedom of speech in the world, except the United States... But do not listen to the press, let alone the tabloid journalism, after all an alliance of your party and most of the Tory Party to support the Queen's decision would hardly fail. I must admit I am still surprised that Leopold has convinced Wellington and Peel, especially Peel, but I imagine that the prospect of seeing this country go to hell if Cumberland comes to the Throne was enough for them to dismiss their prejudices against you and resign themselves to have a Whig politician from Consort of the Queen" said George.  
"Well, anyway, I must prepare for the storm. If the rumors began to circulate, when the Privy Council is called, there will be no doubt... Will rain the criticisms about me and about Victoria. I have to enlist, today will be an intense day," Lord Melbourne replied.  
A while later Lord Melbourne was ready to leave George's house when Emma Portman showed up at the house. She greeted George affectionately, since she was also his friend, and then saluted Lord Melbourne and congratulated him on his next marriage.  
"Thank you, Emma. Is there any news from Palace?" asked Lord Melbourne seriously and somewhat concerned.  
"Her Majesty must soon receive Peel to commission him the formation of the new Ministry. The Queen was very sad and restless this morning, she asked a lot for you and I think she wants to see you as soon as possible," said Emma.  
"Her Majesty will have to wait, I have to meet with Wellington and several influential politicians and members of the Privy Council, and with my press contacts. I have a lot of work to do to get this business to go forward," Lord Melbourne replied.  
"But William..." Emma said.  
"Emma, we are fighting to save Her Majesty's Crown. She is no longer a child, and she must understand," Lord Melbourne said sharply, then said goodbye to her and George and left.  
"George, tell me the truth... how bad are things?" Emma asked worriedly.  
"Very bad... It has only been so bad just two previous occasions, when Caroline's scandal and when his boy died... only this time is worse than those two times" answered George also worried.  
"Worse!... We have to do something George," Emma replied.  
"I'm doing it, Emma, do not worry. I will be at his side at all times, I will do whatever is necessary, but I will get him to come to reason... I take care of him, and you take care of the Queen, so that those two fools are will happy in spite of themselves. I'll take care of my boy, and you of your girl, and together we will," George said with a little enthusiasm.  
"You're incorrigible, George!... I hope you're right," Emma said with a small laugh.  
After Peel appointed his Cabinet, the meeting of the Privy Council was urgently convened to discuss the planned marriage of Victoria to Lord Melbourne. Not surprisingly, there was discontent and some scandal, and quite a few criticisms of Victoria and Lord Melbourne, especially since Albert's death was very recent and mourning for him was just beginning, and his fiancée announced her wedding to another man. But the publicized support of Victoria's maternal family (who was Albert's paternal family) and in particular of King Leopold, served to mitigate criticism a little.  
In the few days before the meeting of the Privy Council, Lord Melbourne resorted to thousands of excuses not to go to Buckingham Palace and avoid uncomfortable meetings with Victoria, which made her feel more sad and desperate. Finally came the day of the meeting of the Privy Council and upon arriving at the meeting Victoria and Lord Melbourne saw each other for the first time since their painful separation, and she had to make a great effort not to break down to cry and Lord Melbourne reflected the emotion in his face, but with great effort remained calm.  
After Victoria read the short prepared text and announced her intention to marry Lord Melbourne, the nonconformists began murmurings. Wellington defended the Queen's decision to critics, as did the Duke of Sussex, Victoria's uncle. But another Victoria's uncle, the Duke of Cumberland (and King of Hanover) vehemently attacked his niece's decision, and dared to criticize her in almost offensive terms, while gave at Lord Melbourne disqualifications almost insulting.  
Lord Melbourne clenched jaw in anger, and he turned to look at Victoria, whose face was broken and through her cheeks began to roll a few tears, without her being able to avoid it. Lord Melbourne felt a rush of conflicting emotions, but the emotion he felt over others was his desire to protect Victoria and his hatred against anyone who hurt her. He realized that Victoria was about to retire, which would be a humiliation and a defeat before her wicked uncle, and realized that neither the fool Peel who was by her side ashamed and almost frightened, nor the elderly Wellington and Sussex they were going to defend effectively to her and avoid that humiliation that would soon reach the press. So he stepped forward.  
"Your Majesty! " Lord Melbourne exclaimed, causing Victoria to stand paralyzed as she rose to her feet, and to see him with her eyes open and a gesture between excited and surprised on her face "Sir Robert, Gentlemen... if allow me, I want to say a few words."  
"Come in, Lord M... Lord Melbourne," Victoria said in a whisper.  
Victoria was sitting on the Throne, on the small stage, presiding over the meeting while the members of the Council listened standing. Lord Melbourne stood between her and the crowd, trying to see her and the members of the Council, turning his head frequently.  
"For the past two years I have had the honor of meeting Her Majesty the Queen... more than two years ago, at the death of His Majesty King William IV, I met for the first time with our new Queen... That day in Kensington, I met a young woman, almost a girl... but I also met she was a Queen in every inch of her body and her soul..."  
Victoria shuddered as she remembered that day and especially the meeting they had another day in her Buckingham Palace dormitory when, in the face of her own doubts, he told her that she looked to him like a Queen in every inch of her.  
"I found a young woman who, despite her young age and inexperience, despite the poor preparation she had received for the role destiny had in store for her, having been isolated from her uncle the King and the rest of the Royal Family... despite all these conditions, she was a young woman who showed aplomb, willingness to learn, willingness to serve her country and a natural dignity. I do not lie to you gentlemen when I tell them that I was moved and admired her, and I really felt that I was in the presence of a monarch who had greatness, a greatness that would make her one of the greatest monarchs this country has ever had in his History, and that could pilot this ship that is our country in the times so turbulent that we live."  
Victoria's eyes were damp, and her body trembled with emotion.  
"As a subject, as a citizen of this country, I have an obligation to serve any Monarch of England, whoever he may be, and even to give my life for him or for her... But how difficult it is to serve a Monarch when he is not Worthy of service and devotion. Fortunately ours is a free country, it is a country where there is freedom to speak and criticize even our Kings. That is why it is no crime to censor the conduct of the members of our Royal Family... and that is why we can say that Britain had long needed a Monarch to be proud of. The British people need to love and admire their Kings, they need to find in them an example worthy of following, a reason to believe in the Monarchy. And that is why it does not need monarchs of dissolute and petty behavior. That is why I am thrilled to find in Queen Victoria a Monarch worthy of love, devotion and respect... because she is a person willing to sacrifice everything, absolutely everything for duty. In her innocence and purity there was fervent determination to be faithful to her duties and loyal to the role her birth had reserved for her. In all this time I have seen her work tirelessly, working to fulfill her duties, studying to the point of exhaustion in order to be trained in the tasks inherent to her position. I do not lie to you when I tell you that I have seen to her to work more than double or triple that my laziest colleagues in Parliament..."  
Lord Melbourne's words ripped out the audience some laughter that relaxed the atmosphere in the middle of the solemnity of his speech, and Victoria herself let out a small laugh that almost turned into pout because of her desire to cry.  
"But above all, I have seen that the Queen has impeccable conduct and an unquestionable desire to honor the country with her actions, so that no one who is not a scoundrel will ever reproach to her for anything," saying this, Lord Melbourne could not see Victoria in the face, and she shuddered and almost broke as she felt the pain and reproach that concealed those words, "unlike those members of the Royalty who have had a dissolute behavior reprehensible, and have even been able to give rise to suspicions of horrible acts against human and divine law in public opinion."  
The Duke of Cumberland was startled as if he had been stung by a wasp, and his face turned red with anger as he felt everyone's eyes upon him, for everyone was aware that Lord Melbourne had made a little veiled reference to the suspicions of murder that had twice fallen upon the Duke. Wellington smiled wryly and malignantly, and even the Duke of Sussex ducked his head in embarrassment and amusement over the accusation against his brother.  
"Her Majesty has my loyalty to death, because I have sworn it, for being my Queen... But I tell you gentlemen that if this pledge did not bind me, and if she were not our Queen..." continued Lord Melbourne, now fixing his intense gaze In Victoria's eyes, while she felt her heart beating fast and breathing hard under her corset, "she would still have all my love and devotion, because with or without a crown, I have not met a woman more worthy of love, admiration and respect."  
Victoria had to bend her head, because she could not help crying and had to cover her mouth with the back of her hand so that her pouting was not heard. But Lord Melbourne turned to face the others, and strode toward them, a little theatrical, to divert their attention from her and concentrate on him.  
"That and no other is my reason to accept the proposal made by Her Majesty! Gentlemen, I have no other ambition in life to serve Her Majesty, and she has asked me to do so as her husband, and I am willing to do so even though I certainly do not consider myself worthy of such honor. Why the rush? Because the murder of the unhappy Prince Albert demonstrates how dangerous these times are and how fragile order is," Victoria shifted in her seat, shocked to hear the name of Albert. "The Queen wants to give an heir to the Crown soon, to ensure the Succession... is not something that should be underestimated in these times when we are threatened by radicals of all kinds. We need a young and admirable Queen to maintain the loyalty of the people to the established order, but if she will miss we need an heir who arouses the same devotion of the people... nothing better than a tender child to awaken that devotion. We are not like those kingdoms of the continent where tyrant kings stand on bayonets and the blood spilled by them."  
Cumberland was furious with that second verbal slap.  
"Lord Melbourne, I will not let y...! " exclaimed the Duke in anger.  
"Why me? " Lord Melbourne continued, ignoring Cumberland. "Certainly not because I am the best man, but I will tell you, gentlemen, that our Queen's marriage to a foreign prince will always bring trouble, even serious trouble. Any marriage alliance with another Kingdom or Principality will drag us to the problems and conflicts of that other State... In these times of convulsion in Europe, that is dangerous. But we must also ask if we have not had enough of foreign interference in our domestic policy, especially of German Dynasties, Kings and Princes... because being the most powerful country in the world I do not understand why we have to be subordinated to the interests of a small Kingdom or German principality or of any other point on the continent," when he said that, Cumberland twisted his face angrily, but Victoria also opened her eyes with a little in surprise as she understood that it was also an attack on her maternal family, "And we must ask ourselves if the British are not tired of so much foreign blood in our Royal Family, especially, if we suspect that behind foreign suitors not only come Trojan Horses of foreign interests, but also probably Papist..."  
"Well said! " exclaimed with satisfaction Wellington, and several of those present shared his enthusiasm.  
"Marrying an English nobleman, Her Majesty sends the message that the Royal Family will be more English and less foreign. And Her Majesty trusts me, because she knows that I understand my place beside her... that of her loyal Consort, respecting that she is the only Reigning Monarch in Britain. And you gentlemen, I tell you I accept any condition that Parliament wants to impose on me, and to begin with, I do not want any assignment... I do not want a penny of assignment, my personal patrimony enough is enough for me. My only reward is to serve the country and the Queen, whom I love. Gentlemen, that's all I can tell you."  
A number of murmurs were heard among the attendees, mostly approving (with more or less enthusiasm). Wellington took the opportunity to speak and, using the words spoken by Lord Melbourne, convinced the majority of the Council. Finally, the Privy Council advised the Queen to go ahead with her decision to marry Lord Melbourne, despite the objections of some members such as the spiteful and greedy Cumberland. This saved the first obstacle to the royal wedding.  
As soon as the Council meeting was over, and the Queen was beginning to retreat, Lord Melbourne hurried out of the room through a side door, while Victoria eagerly sought him out.  
Lord Melbourne entered a small room where Lord George (who had not attended the meeting because he was not a member of the Privy Council) was waiting for him, for Lord Melbourne had asked the palace servants to accommodate his companion in that reserved place.  
Lord George was taking a swig of whiskey, and Lord Melbourne took the glass out of his hand, and drank the whiskey with anxiety, and then took the bottle from the table and poured himself another drink, which he also drank almost desperately, while his hand trembled.  
"Hey carefully that this is not water! " exclaimed George nervously "So bad things came out? " George asked worriedly.  
"The Council counseled in favor of marriage," Lord Melbourne said earnestly, and then drank a third glass in one gulp.  
"Seriously!... But then... why...? " said Lord George, but then he turned to hear a noise at the door and then his eyes widened in surprise, "Your Majesty! "  
Hearing his friend, Lord Melbourne turned to meet the image of Victoria standing in the doorway, and when their eyes met both he and her expressed nervousness and anxiety. Victoria's eyes were red and damp, and in the gesture on her face it was evident that she was holding back the emotion so she would not cry again. Lord George felt uncomfortable.  
"Ma'am... let me introduce Lord George Mcphail, Earl of Enniscorthy, my best friend since infancy," said Lord Melbourne, a little nervous, but trying to keep his composure.  
"Your Majesty," George said, greeting her with almost reverential respect as he kissed the back of Victoria's hand.  
"Lord George... it's my pleasure. Lord Melbourne's best friend is a friend to me," Victoria told him, trying to sound friendly and serene, but her voice cracked a little.  
"You honor me, Your Majesty," George replied kindly, and with a friendly smile.  
"George, you would be so kind to leave Her Majesty and me alone," said Lord Melbourne a little more serene.  
"Of course... with your permission, Your Majesty," said George.  
"Yes, of course, Lord George," Victoria said giving her permission.  
George withdrew and closed the door behind him. An uneasy silence was made in the small room.  
"Lord M..." Victoria said hesitantly and very excitedly.  
"Ma'am, please... Victoria..." said Lord Melbourne, trying to master his emotion.  
"Victoria! " exclaimed Victoria, shocked and moved.  
"Yes, you told me to call you by your name..." Lord Melbourne said in a tone almost as affectionate as the one he used with her at Brocket Hall when she declared her love him, and he took Victoria's hand in his, caressing her. "I want to apologize to you."  
"No... no need!... It's me who...! " exclaimed Victoria, ashamed.  
"No, Victoria. I must apologize to you, because I was very hard the last time we were alone. It's true, I'm hurt... I will not deny it. But I had no right to be cruel to you. My pain does not justify me hurting you," said Lord Melbourne, his head bowed so as not to see Victoria's eyes, for he was afraid to see her crying and betraying his own emotion, while he caressed her little hand. "That I said out there, in face the Council... everything was true, every one of my words, especially everything that concerns my... my love and devotion for you, it is no use denying it," he added raising his head to see Victoria to the eyes.  
"Oh my dear Lord M! " exclaimed Victoria, and began to weep disconsolately, pouting, very moved.  
"My Victoria... so strong and so fragile at the same time," said Lord Melbourne stroking Victoria's cheeks with the back of his hand wiping her tears with his tender caresses. "These days, I was reflecting... the man you just met, my friend George, reminded me of the kind of man I am. He reminded me of my mother, and what she admired in me... and for that, I understood that to hurt you only serves to cause me more pain and worse, to cause more pain to you. And today when I saw that they wanted to hurt you, I remembered the feeling... that feeling of need to protect you, even of me... Victoria, I can promise you nothing... I can not promise you that my wounds will heal suddenly, that my pain, my fears and my bitterness will disappear soon, if they disappear altogether, I can not promise you that things will be easy between us in the coming days, weeks or months... I still do not know how we are going to face everything that is to come. But, if I promise you I will do my best to understand you and to support you in this difficult moment... I promise that I will be loyal to you, as always, and that I will protect you and child... and that I will try to open my heart to you and dispel the darkness that is now in it, even if it is not easy," he added excited, his eyes sparkling with the dampness of tears that he held stubbornly.  
"Thank you Lord M!... I have no right to ask you any more! And I did not expect less of you, my dear Lord M... and you must be sure that I will do my best to reciprocate with all my love the love you give me, because today your words... today your words have tou..." Victoria could not continue because she burst into tears like a newborn baby crying desperately.  
Lord Melbourne held her in his arms, and hugged her tightly, and she buried her face in his chest, stifling her strong cry against the man's strong chest. Lord Melbourne stroked the back of Victoria's head, over her hair, and with the other hand caressed her back. That was a few minutes until Victoria calmed down and then he slowly pulled her away, and took out a handkerchief and wiped away the tears that were still left.  
"Here, sweep your nose," Lord Melbourne said affectionately, putting his handkerchief in her hands.  
Victoria was a little surprised by the confidence with which he spoke, but then smiled and blew her nose trying to retain some dignity.  
"Victoria... tomorrow I would like to have with you that conversation that I did not want to have the day you made me the proposal of marriage. You know what I'm talking about," said Lord Melbourne, getting serious again.  
"I understand... of course, Lord M. You are in your right to know everything," Victoria replied nervously, with the fear of disappointing him and causing pain, appearing on her face.  
"Victoria, if you wish, you can call me William... It's fair, if I call to you Victoria," said Lord Melbourne serene and trying to be kind again.  
"All right... William," Victoria said with a sweet smile.  
"Victoria, can I ask my friend George to come in? Knowing him as I know him must be a little nervous," said Lord Melbourne.  
"Of course! I'd like to know him better," she answered cheerfully.  
Lord Melbourne called him, and George entered with some improper timidity in him. But soon he came into confidence and Victoria seemed to find him very agreeable.  
"Lord George... William, I would like Lord George and you to have dinner at the Palace tonight," Victoria suggested, it hopefully.  
"Well, I do not see why not," said Lord Melbourne. "And you, George? I imagine you have no problem."  
"Of course not... It will be an honor, Your Majesty," George replied gratefully.  
"We'll be here tonight. But first we must do some errands, with your permission... Victoria," said Lord Melbourne gently.  
"Of course, William," Victoria replied affectionately.  
"Until tonight, Victoria," said Lord Melbourne and kissed Victoria on the cheek, surprising George and especially Victoria, who reacted with a gesture of happiness on her face.  
Lord George kissed the back of Victoria's hand, and with the permission of Victoria he and Lord Melbourne retired. They both passed between Council members who had not yet retired, and some spoke briefly with Lord Melbourne to congratulate him. A Lord member of Council approached a palace official on the sly and spoke discreetly to him.  
"Then the council records took up all of Lord Melbourne's speech," the lord asked.  
"Of course, my lord," said the official.  
"Get me the copy soon, and you will have a good reward. That speech is pure gold," replied the lord.  
"You will soon have it, my lord."  
The lord walked away smiling from the officer and hurried to Lord Melbourne to congratulate him warmly. At least that day, a certain happiness and enthusiasm was breathed in the Palace, but there were still many difficult and dark days ahead...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 6: The Shame of the Queen.  
> Note: I invite you to join the Facebook group: For the love of Vicbourne. In that group many fans of Vicbourne we gather in a pleasant atmosphere to enjoy our favorite fandom.


	6. The Shame of the Queen.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At last Victoria has to give an explanation to Lord Melbourne, and must face the consequences of her actions. Another dramatic tension-filled conversation will test the relationship between Victoria and Lord Melbourne. How will Lord Melbourne react to Victoria's confession?

Lord Melbourne and Lord George were traveling in a carriage through the crowded streets of London. George had several newspapers on his legs and showed them to Lord Melbourne while reading the headlines.  
"Look at this... 'Declaration of Love on the Privy Council', this other: 'Passionate Words of Love from the Lord to the Queen'... 'Lord Melbourne has Heart and it beats for the Queen'... 'From Politician to Walking Knight'... 'Lord Melbourne comes out in defense of the Queen's honor with a romantic Speech'... 'Lord Melbourne: Man in love or a clever opportunist'... 'The Day that Lord Melbourne confessed his Love for the Queen before the great men of the Kingdom'... 'Lord Melbourne faces Cumberland to defend the Queen'... and so many other starters. You must recognize that some are funny and some witty, and of course, some are fools," said George with a funny and ironic smile.  
"Although I should not be surprised after many years of confronting the press of this country, I confess that I am somewhat offended because a press magnate taking advantage of his position as a member of the Privy Council to obtain a copy of the transcript of my speech and publish it as an exclusive in their newspapers, of course causing the competition newspapers to be forced to transcribe the speech too, and to comment it exhaustively, for good or ill," said Lord Melbourne with some annoyance.  
"Well, William... How many times does the Privy Council meet to advise on the marriage of a reigning Monarch? It is an event through which we have to wait for entire generations... and also to occur in the context of a Projected controversial marriage, and by itself was little with the presence of the eventual Consort of the Queen uttering an inspired and wonderful speech... Well that must occur once in several centuries, as a very rare conjunction of the stars... Can you blame the owner of some big print newspapers for wanting to make an exclusive of it? " George replied truthfully.  
"Of course... I'm glad there are people taking advantage of this marriage," Lord Melbourne said wryly.  
"Most people in England would think you're the main beneficiary, William," George replied politely.  
"Most people are not in my place and do not know my heart," replied Lord Melbourne soberly and sadly.  
George turned to see him and recognized his friend's uneasiness.  
"I thought things were better with Victoria after yesterday," George said worriedly.  
"I was emotionally altered... Of course, I wanted to be protective and generous with Victoria, I wanted to comfort her because I can not stand to see her suffer... You know better than anyone what I feel for her... But as I told her, the darkness has not died out in my heart and it may that never extinguishes... I feel a lot of pain and rage, and I still do not know how to live with her, after what she did," answered Lord Melbourne candidly.  
"And... do you think your conversation with her today could make things worse?" George asked worriedly.  
"I would like to say no... but I'm afraid so," Lord Melbourne acknowledged.  
"My friend, try to be patient and generous... Remember your mother, and remember that you love that girl... Listen to her with your heart and without prejudice, for her and for you," George said, patting him on the knee.  
"I'll try, George... I'll try," Lord Melbourne answered truthfully.  
The carriage stopped at the front door of Buckingham Palace, and Lord Melbourne was about to get out of the carriage.  
"I'll come and fetch you at the appointed time," said George.  
"Thank you, George... for everything," said Lord Melbourne.  
"Do not worry... luck, William," George said.  
Lord Melbourne entered the Palace as the carriage departed. They led him to the antechamber of the Queen's private quarters, and I wait there, impatient and anguished, as if I feared his encounter with Victoria.  
She arrived after a few minutes, and seemed more nervous and frightened than him. She approached Lord Melbourne slowly.  
"Ma'am... Victoria," said Lord Melbourne uncertainly on what to call her, and went to take her hand to kiss her, but after a few moments of nervous indecision, he brought his face to kiss her cheek, and she came to make it easier.  
"Lord M... William, how was your night?... After dinner," Victoria asked friendly and trying to smile, but very nervous to get it right.  
"Well, well... on leaving, we went to George's house and had a few drinks and talked a bit before retiring to sleep," Lord Melbourne replied, trying to sound calm even though he was tense.  
"Lord George is very nice... I would like him to visit us frequently here in Buckingham after the wedding, to invite him and his wife..." Victoria said pleasantly and sincerely.  
"His wife lives in Ireland and never comes to England... they are separated in fact. But that's a long story... for another day," Lord Melbourne replied as though it were a subject he did not like to talk about.  
"I... I understand," Victoria said, somewhat puzzled and uncomfortable, as if she had made a mistake.  
"Victoria, allow me to suggest that we sit down," said Lord Melbourne somewhat impatiently.  
"Yeah, sure... let's sit down," Victoria said.  
She sat down first, as usual, and he sat down, in front of her. They were both silent for a moment.  
"I've seen the newspapers... most have a favorable view of your speech in the Council. I think it is something positive for the debate in Parliament," Victoria said anxiously and trying to sound optimistic.  
"I certainly think the press approach is the best we could hope for," Lord Melbourne replied.  
Victoria hoped he would say something more, to delay the inevitable moment a little. But at the silence and the gesture on his face, she realized that he did not want to wait any longer. So she swallowed thick, and made an effort to begin.  
"William, this is very difficult for me... And it is difficult because I care much what you think of me and I have never wanted to disappoint you, I have always wanted your approval... And so I feel a deep shame, to have to confess this. I expect your indulgence, even if I do not deserve it," Victoria said, her voice broken with emotion.  
"I just want the truth, Victoria. Only the truth will give us a chance, someday to sort things out," replied Lord Melbourne sincere and serious, but calm.  
"Of course... It all happened when Albert was about to leave for his country, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha..."  
Victoria trembled as she spoke, twisting her hands in a nervous gesture. She looked down, for she did not dare to see Lord Melbourne's eyes, and her voice was broken by emotion, as if at any moment she might burst into tears.  
"I really did not want him to go back to his country, because... I did not want to part with him." Victoria lifted her head a little and could see the pain reflected on Lord Melbourne's face, which made her feel a twinge of pain too, and guilt over his suffering. "But I understood that he must go, that he could not ignore the call of his father from which he was to be separated most of the rest of his life, by marrying me..." To say this Victoria felt another pang of pain, but this time by Albert and some tears appeared in her face, which did not go unnoticed for Lord Melbourne, who felt more hurt "and that he also had to resolve their pending affairs, waiting that the obstacles to marriage in Parliament were overcome. Anyway, I felt sad and somewhat nervous... so before his departure we had a happy family dinner to say goodbye to him and Ernest. But at the end of dinner, he and me wanted to continue talking, we did not want to part so quickly..."  
Victoria felt very bad, knew that her words were hurting Lord Melbourne, no matter how she tried to relativize or soften the story of the facts. The truth was of course harder for him, that night they did not want to part because they wanted to continue enjoying the new experience of kissing and caressing each other. But Victoria sensed that Lord Melbourne's mind filled the blank lines of her story, because he was not a fool, and that hurt him more and by extension to her.  
"Then I thought of a craziness, a mischief of a little girl. I got a servant to bring us a pair of bottles of liquor, and with the bottles and some beakers we slipped away to hide from them all and be alone... I asked Miss Skerrett, my personal maid, she made her believe Lehzen that I had already gone to bed and was sleeping... but in reality, Albert and me took refuge in the antechamber of my rooms to talk alone... Albert did not want to drink much, but I convinced him to do it, I insisted, I begged and I challenged him to get it. So we started drinking, drinking a lot, laughing..."  
And between kisses and caresses, but that Victoria did not say.  
"You know that alcohol does not suit me very well, you will remember the Ball of Coronation..." Victoria continued with a small sad smile as she recalled the sweet moment when a more naive Victoria waited uselessly for a kiss from Lord Melbourne when they both drew too close together a hallway "and Albert also did not stand up very well, he was not used to drinking much either... So we were both very drunk, exalted and uninhibited by the liquor... At one point, Albert began to comment that his brother wanted to take him to... To a place of those, of 'ladies of the night'. Of course I was angry, but he reassured me and told me that he did not want to go, and that if Ernest had forced him to go, he would only have asked a series of questions to those women about... the carnal act. That seemed funny to me, and then we started talking about it, and..."  
Victoria broke off, and Lord Melbourne saw that she was making a great effort to continue. But Victoria saw the intense glance of Lord Melbourne and remembered her promise to tell him everything, and gathered strength to follow.  
"Albert and me did not want to fail our duty, we did not want to dishonor our names and our position... but we did not know what we were doing. Drunkenness erased any prudence or sense of decency, and one thing led the other... I recognize for my dishonor and to vindicate a little the memory of Albert, who at first I took the initiative..." saying this Victoria saw a grimace of anger and displeasure on Lord Melbourne's face, which made her feel her legs tremble "but then he responded with enthusiasm, with too much enthusiasm... In his naivety and outburst he acted with awkwardness and a certain brutality, and I was a little frightened to see what I had caused. Even for a moment I regretted it, and I asked him to stop... "said Victoria very embarrassed and distressed.  
"He forced you! " asked Lord Melbourne with an exclamation of bewilderment and rage.  
"No!... I... I later agreed... In his outburst he told me words... sweet and passionate that made me to cede," Victoria replied and felt more anguish as Lord Melbourne turned his face so as not to see her face, with a gesture of anger and contempt on his face.  
Victoria was silent for a moment while she waited for some reaction from him, but when there was no reaction, she continued.  
"The next day Lehzen and Skerrett surprised us still asleep in... my bedroom... Lehzen was very hurt and disappointed, and that hurt me a lot because she is like a mother to me and having failed her that way is the worst thing I could do... Even so, she acted quickly and cautiously to eliminate the evidence... of our sin..."  
Lord Melbourne squeezed the backs of the chair so hard he thought he could break them... he had no difficulty imagining what those evidences would be... Victoria's sheets and garments stained with her blood of deflowered virgin and the cum of the bastard Albert... Suddenly the images of both, having sex returned to his mind and he felt nauseous, even wanting to vomit...  
"I was deeply ashamed and regretful of my embarrassing and unforgivable behavior, and Albert too... we were both suffering greatly from guilt. But we consoled ourselves by telling ourselves that we would soon be married and that would erase our guilt and dishonor, and perhaps in time we would even remember it as an anecdote... I dismissed Albert with a great anguish united to the sadness I already felt for separating from him, but with the hope of getting married soon... But then the tragedy happened... Albert's murder just two days after arriving in his country... for me it was a horrible nightmare, and everything got worse when Miss Skerrett recognized in me the early signs of a pregnancy and she advised me to go to the doctor of the Court. He confirmed the worst news to me, and then I had to tell my mother and my uncle everything, of course they were devastated and furious, fearing that it would be the end of my reign and the ruin of my maternal family... The rest of the story, you already know Lord M."  
Lord Melbourne rose from his chair in a rather abrupt manner, not caring that Victoria was still sitting, forgetting protocol. Then he went to a window and stared out into the palace garden, trying to calm himself. Victoria got to her feet, and walked a few steps toward him, full of anxiety, shame and fear.  
"Lord M... please forgive me... Do not be quiet, tell me something, whatever," Victoria begged.  
"On one occasion, when the Bedchamber Crisis, you told me 'you forget yourself'... you reminded me of my place. We both know that in this room there are two people who are not on an equal plane, and because of that inequality I can not tell you what I feel. Or would you be willing to give up that privilege to hear me speak with absolute sincerity? " said Lord Melbourne without ceasing to see the outside, without looking at her.  
"William, of course I want you to speak to me with absolute sincerity, for better or for worse, because I care about your feelings... and also because I do not consider that we are unequal, especially since we are going to get married," Victoria said sincerely.  
"All right, Victoria... Your conduct is reprehensible, absolutely reprehensible and unforgivable!" Lord Melbourne replied with a hard look and glance, turning to see her.  
"Lord M!" cried Victoria in amazement and pain, tears streaming down her eyes.  
"I can not say otherwise... in any young, single woman it would be a reprehensible behavior, but in a Queen of England who ought to be exemplary in her conduct, it is absolutely intolerable," said Lord Melbourne, speaking to her with uncharacteristic harshness.  
Victoria stepped back, feeling as if he had slapped her.  
"But I... I did not want to. It was an accident, a mistake... I'm sorry to cause you this pain!... But I'm also feeling a lot of pain! " Victoria exclaimed in tears.  
"Pain!... Pain is to grow in an unhappy family full of painful secrets... Pain is to see your older brother die when he was still very young... Pain is you marry a woman you were in love, to create your own family and see how everything collapses around you... It is to see your first child born to be the victim of a cruel congenital disease that makes him an idiot or a madman in the eyes of the world... It is to see your daughter die the same day she was born. It is to see your wife being unfaithful, fall in love with another man and go with him, then she return shattered and crazy. It is having to endure for almost ten years a public scandal that makes you the most despised and humiliated man in the country... It is to see your mother die, probably the only person who really loved you in this life, and then see die to the mother of your children, and finally see your son die, your boy whom you took care of with devotion during all his painful life of illness... And when you believed, that you could no longer suffer, you meet a young woman and you fall in love with her as a fool, even though you know it's a forbidden love for you, and although it makes you feel alive again, soon the pain returns... Because pain is having to reject the woman's declaration of love that you love to protect her and save her from a dark destination... Pain, ma'am, is to see later that woman fall in love too fast with another man, a young man, and see them both engage in marriage and you have to suffer to see that you will lose her forever in the arms of him... And when that marriage is truncated by a tragedy and you feel compassion for her, the pain hurts again, because... that woman you love has lost her virginity and has become pregnant with the other man, and you have to endure the humiliation and the unloving... That is pain, ma'am! " Lord Melbourne said, emotional and angry, his eyes bright and his gesture hard.  
Victoria was shocked, crushed by the contempt and reproach of her beloved Lord Melbourne, and suffering from the pain she saw in his face.  
"Lord M, I know your life has been very painful, and I despise myself for causing you hurt. But I want..." Victoria tried to say, crying.  
"You love him? " Lord Melbourne asked, not hiding the grudge in his voice.  
"Albert?... He's dead, Willi..." Victoria replied, surprised and to defensive way.  
"That's not my question, ma'am. Did you love him?... Do you still love him despite being dead? " he asked with an accusatory tone, like that of a rude cop in an interrogation of a delinquent.  
Victoria felt trapped and desperate, not knowing what to say, feeling pain for both men, for Lord Melbourne and for Albert.  
"I... I loved him... I guess I still love him. But that does not mean..." Victoria answered trying to explain.  
"So, ma'am, what you felt for me was a simple infatuation that quickly dissipated? " said Lord Melbourne without mercy.  
Victoria suffered for that new verbal slap.  
"That's not fair!... You rejected me! I was heartbroken and Albert made me feel idolized, loved... He was in love with me and made me believe that I did not have to live life alone, that his love could take away from me sadness and loneliness" replied Victoria almost furious, without ceasing to cry.  
"I understand, ma'am. I can understand it. A life of loneliness is terrible, I know from experience. And I'm sorry that the man you love is dead. Believe me that I am sincere when I tell you that I am sorry that you have not been able to marry him, and that you have to marry a man you do not love," Lord Melbourne said sadly, and looked back to the window.  
Victoria froze, bewildered. Then she reached out, as if she wanted to touch him with her hand, but not daring to do so, full of compassion for him.  
"Lord M... why do you think I do not love you?... Why?" Victoria asked.  
"You said it, Victoria. You love him," Lord Melbourne answered, as if his mind were somewhere far away.  
"But I... although it is difficult to understand, I never forgot you. A part of my heart was still yours... when I was with Albert, even in those days of euphoria because for start of engagement of him and me, I sometimes remembered you, I could not help it. I was confused, but I was trying to get you out of my head because I wanted concentrate on trying to be happy with Albert. But I knew that a part of me still loved you and would probably never stop doing it... that's why I even had rehearsed a little speech to tell you the day of my wedding, to tell you that in spite of everything you would always be part of my heart. I feel that the love I felt on the day of our meeting at Brocket Hall never died completely, even though for a time my love for Albert has overshadowed it... I know it may sound frivolous and even reprehensible, but I think I have been in love two men at the same time for different reasons... And I think I now have the opportunity to love you without reservations with all my heart, as I wanted that day at Brocket Hall," said Victoria very emotional, as if she were declaring his love again.  
Lord Melbourne closed his eyes with a gesture as if he were exhausted, a gesture that did not go unnoticed for Victoria. He was silent for a few moments, then opened his eyes and spoke sadly turning to see Victoria.  
"My experience with women tells me that when a woman is in love with a man and then falls in love with another man, for whatever reason... she simply can not love the first man again," said Lord Melbourne with ill-concealed pain.  
"Are you comparing me to Lady Caroline? That's not fair, William!... I'm not Caroline, and my story has nothing to do with her story with Lord Byron ... I was not married to you, I was not unfaithful to you... I would never be unfaithful to you! I will respect our marriage vows, not because I fear the punishment of God or because it is my duty as a woman and Queen, but because you believe it or not I love you too much to make you such humiliation and cause you so much pain" said Victoria sincere and excited, and then she extended her arm and dared to take it by the hand "I told you that a part of my heart never ceased to be yours... We can both be happy together. You do not think I can give you my heart for Albert... no matter how much it hurts, he's dead. His memory will fade to be a memory... a sweet memory, it is true... but a memory. Albert will not be a ghost that will stand between us and which will prevent me from giving you the happiness and love to which you have the right," said Victoria with sweetness and affection.  
"You're wrong, Victoria. Or will not his ghost live on his child? " replied Lord Melbourne, expressionless.  
Victoria felt a new twinge of pain, and she slowly let go of Lord Melbourne's hand as tears threatened to spring back into her eyes.  
"Lord M... the child will never know who his father is. I swear I will not allow it!... My family will not be able to tell him anything, the child will only know a father, and it will be yo..." Victoria said desperately to calm Lord Melbourne.  
"You're wrong about that!... The child will know the truth, because I will tell him the truth," Lord Melbourne replied with a serious tone and a hard face.  
"But Lord M! " Victoria cried anguished.  
"Every man and woman deserves to know who his real father is!... Every person has the right to know their origin... The worst sin a mother can commit is to hide from her child the truth about his fatherhood. And that holds true for any mother, including the Queen of England," Lord Melbourne said reproachfully.  
Victoria froze at Lord Melbourne's words and felt her body tremble.  
"I just did not want to deprive my child of having a wonderful father, just like you," Victoria said with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please William, do not punish my child for my sin."  
"Victoria, I'm not a scoundrel!... I am not John Conroy... I would never hurt a child... and less after my son's death..." replied Lord Melbourne and his voice cracked, and he had to turn his face away so she would not see him cry, overcome at last by the emotions of that dramatic encounter.  
Victoria also broke down when she saw him cry, and without thinking she approached him from behind, and put her small hand on his shoulder.  
"Forgive me, it seems that all I do is hurt you! " Victoria exclaimed as she pouted and sobbed.  
"Victoria, please!... I am tired and overwhelmed... every man has a limit and I am no exception. I just want a break, a break... I do not want to think... I don't want to feel," said Lord Melbourne downcast, trying to regain his composure.  
Lord Melbourne slowly turned away from her, turning his back on her, while Victoria continued to cry and looked at him anxiously. He turned and spoke to her, trying to pretend that he had regained his composure.  
"Do not worry, I just need to think about what we've talked about and take it in. But I feel that London suffocates me, the whole city, even my own house in Brocket Hall. I need some peace to think and calm down... I think it's best for both of us, because being altered I'm no good for anything. As the process of approving marriage in Parliament has just begun, I have sufficient time... That is why I have accepted the invitation of my friend George to spend a few days in his country residence in Cornwall. I think that I can be in peace and calm my nerves, and ponder better. Surely when I return I will be better able to face the whole wedding process, which will not be easy because there will be a strong opposition in Parliament... I think it is the best," said Lord Melbourne trying to look like when he was Prime Minister and spoke to she of subjects of State.  
"So... are you leaving?" Victoria asked, making an effort to calm herself and regain her composure, wiping away her tears with one hand.  
"Only for a few days, Victoria," Lord Melbourne answered, handing Victoria a handkerchief.  
"Thank you..." she said taking the handkerchief.  
"I need to get away from everything, even for a short time," insisted Lord Melbourne.  
"Of everything... of me, too," Victoria replied as a sad statement.  
Lord Melbourne did not respond and remained serious.  
"I understand, William. I hope that the stay in Cornwall is for your good, for your peace ... I only hope that your reflections help you understand that I am sincere when I tell you that I want to make you happy and give you, the love you deserve," said Victoria, affectionately.  
Lord Melbourne looked down and fell silent. Then they both considered it appropriate to end the meeting and Victoria accompanied him to the hallway outside the room.  
"See you later, Victoria," said Lord Melbourne, and bent down to kiss the back of Victoria's hand, making her feel disappointed as she awaited a kiss on the cheek.  
"Until later, Lord M... I will await your return with anxiety. I'll miss you," said Victoria, excited and sad.  
Lord Melbourne walked away, his face shadowed by an infinite sadness and his eyes lowered, and he was so distracted that he passed close to Victoria's mother without seeing her or greeting her. The Duchess of Kent saw the look on his face and wisely chose not to speak to him to get his attention. Then she saw her daughter and went to her, worried to see the tears on Victoria's cheeks.  
"I've told all him, Mama!... Albert and..." Victoria said in pain and anguish.  
"Shhh!... Shut up Drina, the walls have ears," said the Duchess nervously, looking back and forth, afraid that some servant would hear a reckless statement from Victoria.  
"I broke his heart!... Once again I hurt him... he is shattered, I had never seen him so desperate and dejected," said Victoria crying and pouting like a little girl.  
The Duchess saw her and could not help feeling compassion for her daughter's pain.  
"Do not be mortified, Drina!" said the Duchess, as she hugged her daughter and stroked Victoria's head in a loving and consoling gesture. "Men are like children, they get angry and get depressed for everything... but they soon forget and move on to something else. And Lord Melbourne is in love like a fool of you. That is why it is normal for him to be hurt... but when his stupid pride of wounded man fades and his ridiculous mind of an offended child begins to think clearly, he will realize that he is very fortunate to be able to spend the rest of his life married with the woman who loves... Then he will accept your love enchanted, and you with your caresses and your affection as a woman will make him forget the past... And then you two will finally get away with it, what you two basically wanted from the beginning, that it is to be happy together as in those ridiculous romantic novels that so much like the young ladies your age or in those tales of princesses that Baroness Lehzen read to you when you were little girl... You will see... you just give time that idiot to ponder," added the Duchess dismissing the matter.  
"Do not call him that, Mama! " Victoria protested as she continued to cry.  
"It's okay! Your 'handsome and wonderful' Lord Melbourne... Happy? " said the Duchess in a mocking tone.  
Victoria could not help but giggle, and then she saw her mother with tears in her eyes.  
"Do you really think he can get over it? " Victoria asked anxiously.  
"Of course! All men look quite like each other in the background. And most are children when they are in love. Your father was also very stupid, in another sense. You will see that in a short time your dear Lord Melbourne will again be the same spellbound fool by your beauty and charm that kissed the road that you walked. You two will be a very cheesy couple without a doubt," replied the Duchess reassuring and a little mocking.  
"Thanks Mama!... I wish you'd always be so good to me," Victoria said, shaken.  
"I would not be myself!..." said the Duchess feeling a little touched as her voice broke, but after a few moments recovered the usual serenity "Come to your bedroom, on your... 'situation', are not suitable strong emotions, you should rest."  
Both women walked toward the queen's quarters. Meanwhile Lord Melbourne waited at the entrance to the Palace for the arrival of Lord George's carriage, which did not take long to do so. Lord Melbourne got into the carriage and sat down in front of his friend.  
"How…? Do not tell me, for your face I imagine it," said George worried to see the gesture in Lord Melbourne's face.  
"I need to drink a lot today... But there's another thing I need you to do for me," said Lord Melbourne very seriously, between depressed and disgusted. "I need you to contact that 'friend' of yours, I want to see Catherine tonight, if that's possible.  
George could not help feeling a little surprised to hear his friend request the services of the prostitute he had been on the other night. That gave him an idea of the desperate depression in which Lord Melbourne was immersed, of his need to flee from pain and seek solace.  
"Of course, William... as soon as we get home I will send an urgent note to the man," replied George sympathetically and amiably. "If Catherine was not available, would you be willing to...?"  
"I just want to see Catherine, I'm not interested in any other. If she can not come, I do not want anyone else to come," said Lord Melbourne.  
"I see. Do not worry," George replied.  
The carriage continued on its way toward Lord George's mansion, while gloomy Lord Melbourne sank into his dark thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 7: A Home in Cornwall.  
> 


	7. A Home in Cornwall.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Melbourne faces the consequences of his conversation with Victoria, with an encounter with Catherine and an illuminating trip to the home of Lord George, while a particular personage will look for something, from the shadows.

The naked bodies on the bed, sweaty and exhausted, after an intense session of sex. Slowly Lord Melbourne slipped to the side, pulling off Catherine, and they both caught their breath.  
After a couple of minutes Lord Melbourne got out of bed slowly and he walked naked to the window, taking a robe that was on a chair and covering himself with it, while he turned his back on Catherine who lay still on the bed. Lord Melbourne tied the ties around his waist, closing his robe and covering his nakedness completely. Then he turned to see Catherine, though from the look on his face she imagined that his mind was elsewhere.  
"If you allow me to say so, my Lord, I see you as distressed as the night we met... Does that mean you still has problems with the woman you loves?" Catherine asked affectionately, with sincere interest and compassion for him.  
"Yes... I'm sorry that every time we see each other, you have to see me in this state of mind. I'm a bad company," Lord Melbourne said with some embarrassment, apologetic.  
"Do not worry, my Lord. To tell you the truth, I would say that your company is very pleasurable to me... absolutely pleasurable," Catherine replied with lasciviousness in her voice and her eyes, excited as she remembered the moments of pleasure in Lord Melbourne's arms and of those who could bear witness certain parts sore from her body, "As for your pain, do not worry, I'm honored that you trust me for unburden yourself, as if I really were your friend... You do not know how many times, I have wanted that men in your position to see me as a person, as a human being with feelings like their own, and not simply as an object to use and discard."  
"I understand... but deep down, I'm a scoundrel for using your services," Lord Melbourne answered sadly and with a bitter smile.  
"My Lord, I do not judge because I do not like to be judged... In addition, the natural instincts of a man or a woman should not be a reason for censure or shame. I do not necessarily blame a man for resorting to the services of a prostitute because after all, he is only sating a natural appetite in him... What I censure is that a man treats cruelly a woman only for being a prostitute, who treats her as an object and not a person with feelings, humiliates her or causes pain her... But fortunately not all clients treat poorly girls, most are quite civilized and some are even kind and generous, just like you," Catherine said.  
"Thank you, it comforts me a little that you think so," said Lord Melbourne.  
Catherine moved on the bed and sat on the edge, putting her feet on the floor. Shamelessly, she was sitting in front of Lord Melbourne, totally naked, and Lord Melbourne could not help but a small smile between nervous and lascivious. She smiled back and, with slow, flirtatious movements, took a robe beside her, and elegantly covering herself with it, on without standing up, partially covering her nakedness.  
"I have discovered that men can not think, speak, and see a naked woman at the same time, they can not concentrate on more than one thing at a time, especially if there is a naked woman involved," Catherine said mockingly.  
Lord Melbourne laughed, and Catherine too.  
"Then my lord... do you still have doubts about the lady you love?" Catherine asked with genuine interest and sympathy.  
"Yes," Lord Melbourne answered with a sigh. "I'm afraid so. Now maybe more than before. I... I have known something more of her feelings for the other man, and the way that... in which she..." he added, but could not finish the sentence.  
"In which she gave her virtue him," Catherine said affectionately and sympathetically. "Do not worry, my Lord, I understand that it is difficult for you to speak of this... My Lord, may I tell you something?"  
"Of course," said Lord Melbourne.  
"In our previous meeting, I related you how I became pregnant as a young girl, and that the father of my son was a rat who seduced me and abandoned me. Well, when that bastard was courting me, there was another boy from my town who was also trying to woo me. He was a very kind and kind-hearted man, a hardworking, honest man, and he was not really an ugly boy, he had a certain physical appeal... but the other boy, the scoundrel, was much more handsome, he was more fun and charming, he knew how to talk to a girl and seduce her, while the other boy was much more timid and I found him a bit silly and boring... So I ignored to a good guy, and let myself be seduced by the scoundrel... the rest of the story you already know, as my father threw me out of the house and the rest. Well, the fact is that a couple of years later I went to visit a town near my hometown and at a local party I saw that boy who had been so good to me. I approached him, with some joy and enthusiasm... but he rejected me. He treated me with poorly concealed contempt as if I were a repulsive being... few times in my life have I been hurt and humiliated so much..." said Catherine sadly remembering.  
"I'm very sorry... really," Lord Melbourne replied with sincere sympathy.  
"Do not worry, it's been a long time since that. The fact is that he despised me and did not even want to give me the opportunity to be his friend. And all because I had been 'dishonoured', 'dirty' before his eyes, and because I dragged a son as a reminder of my shame. We went separate ways, and I dedicated myself to being a prostitute and he married an 'honoured' woman... but with that, he has not been happy. From what they tell me friends in common, that woman made of his life a hell, so much that they have separated. So I have sometimes thought that if he had forgotten his prejudices and given me a second chance, maybe our life together would have been happy... or not, we will never know," Catherine said with some pity.  
"I understand what you mean... that sometimes we refuse a second chance for not wanting to forgive and forget the past, and for not wanting to get rid of prejudices. And you're very right... But I'm very confused, I do not know what to feel or what to think. Sometimes I feel that I just want to love her and protect her, that I can forget what she did and love her without expecting anything in return... recently I even had to face others for her and protect her in a complex situation for her, and then I forgot my anger... But then I had that conversation with her and... well, I was shaken by the pain, the jealousy and the insecurity. I honestly do not know if I know her, I do not know if I know the woman I fell in love with, or if what I saw in her was only a mirage, an illusion. I never believed that she was capable of making the mistake she committed, for many extenuating circumstances that may exist in her case. I still can not believe it," Lord Melbourne replied with sadness and some anguish.  
"My Lord, I do not want to offend the woman you love by comparing her with a woman of my condition... but we have something in common all women, from the best to the worst, is that when we are very young, we are very reckless and we act for irresponsible impulses. If, when I was a young lady I would have had the maturity and the experience I have now, and that I have obtained with so much pain, I probably would not have been so stupid and would not have let myself be seduced by that bastard, by my son's father, and my life would be very different now. We've all been young and stupid my Lord" Catherine comforted.  
"I know, I know, Catherine. I am also a good example of how stupid we all are when we are young, believe me. My youth was filled with great and terrible mistakes in my personal life... and you do not believe I can not understand her. What she did... she did it partly because of her inexperience and her innocence. If I am fair I must admit that she was not guilty totally... and not even him... But, what torments me... it is the reason that led to that situation, and that reason is that she loved him... I wanted to deceive myself, I wanted to believe that she was with him out of spite, because she could not be with me... so foolish and conceited I am..." explained Lord Melbourne.  
"I do not think you're conceited and much less foolish, my Lord. You are simply a man in love who clings to the hope that the woman you loves will continue to love you," Catherine replied with an affectionate smile.  
"It's possible. But the point is that she loved him and wanted him... she wanted to be his wife, she really wanted him. Then what place did I occupy in her heart? What happened to the love she said she felt for me before he entered her life? Maybe it died, maybe never existed," lamented Lord Melbourne.  
"Or perhaps it survived hidden in a corner of her heart. Or maybe it did not have time to germinate and grow. My Lord, you must know better than me that true love is not born overnight... We can fall in love at first sight, but at first it is a simple infatuation. Strong and sincere love must transcend those first moments of infatuation, and grow and strengthen in difficulties until, over time, it becomes a solid and sincere bond... From what you have told to me, love began to germinate and grow in the heart of your young lady, but you cut it off when you had to keep her away for the welfare of her... so you cut the stem of a plant that barely started to grow, but perhaps the roots were buried very deep. But then she met that other gentleman and she suffered an infatuation again, and another possible love began to germinate, but it was also cut off. Now it is possible that the love that she felt for you, it begins to grow again, that the buried roots begin to germinate again. But it will only be possible if you give it a chance... My Lord, if you do not open your heart to that possibility will be impossible. Why not try, my lord? After all, you have nothing to lose... if love does not germinate, it will confirm your worst expectations, and you will have to learn to live with them. But if love has any chance, why not try?" said Catherine.  
"You are very wise, Catherine, as well as beautiful. It's a pity we did not meet in another life" said Lord Melbourne sincere and flattering.  
"I'm very flattered, coming from you... Lord Melbourne," Catherine answered cautiously and a little nervous.  
Lord Melbourne opened his eyes and his face covered with a look of surprise and some fear, hearing his real name on Catherine's lips.  
"The other day I happened to see you on the street and I went with a girl friend, and that friend knew who you were and she told me. But do not worry, I swear on the life of my son that I have not told anyone, not even my closest friends, much less my boss... No one will find out for me, ever, they would have to torture me for me to confess... You are a gentleman and you have behaved very well with me, you made me feel... special, something a man had not done for me in a long time. That's why and because I know what it is to suffer for love and to need someone I listened to you, that's why I would never betray you. I swear you on my son," Catherine declared with emotion and sincerity.  
"I believe you, Catherine... for me you are a lady, an honorable lady. But you must understand my concern... you know that I... I'm going to marry the Queen" said Lord Melbourne nervously.  
"I understand, Lord Melbourne... I do not care if the woman you told me about is the Queen or any other woman. The Queen is a woman with the feelings of any woman, with the weaknesses of any woman, but... she is the Queen, my Queen. I will be... what I am, but above all I am a loyal subject of Her Majesty. As far as I'm concerned, you've never talked to me about the Queen and that's all I know."  
"Thank you, Catherine," Lord Melbourne answered.  
"I just hope this does not mean the end of our 'encounters'," Catherine said, fearing the answer.  
Lord Melbourne thought for a moment hesitantly, then answered.  
"Do not worry, I think we'll keep seeing each other," Lord Melbourne said, making Catherine smile.  
Almost two days later, Lord Melbourne and his friend Lord George were arriving at Lord George's house in the English region of Cornwall. The carriage that carried them was approaching the entrance to the country mansion, a large and elegant two-storey house, built more than a hundred years earlier, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. As a servant had gone on horseback to warn of the arrival of the master of the house, George's family was already waiting at the door.  
George almost did not wait for the carriage to stop to jump to the ground, and run to embrace a young woman and give her a kiss on the lips. Lord Melbourne smiled at the scene.  
Lord Melbourne was one of the few people in London's high society who knew the truth about Lord George's personal life. Most of the London aristocrats hardly knew that Lord George was separated from his wife and that by an unusual agreement between them she lived in Ireland and never went to England as if she lived in a 'golden exile.' But outside Cornwall few knew anything about their second family.  
Several years ago Lord George had fallen in love with a young maid, and both had begun a romance. Lord George gave to woman a status as if she were his wife, at least on his property in Cornwall, and that's why she 'reigned' as Lady of the house.  
They both had three children, a five-year-old girl, a three-year-old boy, and a girl of just under a year and a half. In spite of the great friendship between Lord Melbourne and Lord George, Lord Melbourne did not know the children of George's second family and did not even know his woman, for he had not yet brought them to London and Lord Melbourne had been too busy with his duties as Prime Minister (especially since Victoria was Queen) to visit Lord George's house in Cornwall.  
Lord Melbourne watched the woman curiously. She was a skinny girl, but with a beautiful silhouette, judging from what he could see or intuit in her long, fitted dress. She was a woman of medium stature (much taller than Victoria). It could be seen that her breasts were not large or small, perhaps a little larger than small, at least in proportion to her thin body. She was a woman of very white skin, almost pale, that stood out more in her dark blue suit. She had straight and black hair, which she carried long to her shoulders. Her face was more or less beautiful, but more 'normal' than special or extraordinary. The most beautiful features were her beautiful blue eyes.  
The woman appeared to be over 25 years old, making her several years older than Victoria, but still much younger than George and Lord Melbourne. Approaching them Lord Melbourne thought that with her elegant appearance the young woman could perfectly well resemble a young lady of the aristocracy. George turned and smiled at Lord Melbourne.  
"William, I'll introduce you to Eleanor... Eleanor, my friend William," George said proudly.  
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Melbourne," said the young woman, with a timidity, and in a reflex act, surely a memory of her times as a servant began to make a bow more proper to a servant than to the lady of the house.  
"Eleanor, I told you not to do that!" George reprimanded her, unable to avoid being annoyed at the sight of the woman she loved to humble herself, even if it was by mistake.  
"I'm sorry, George!" Eleanor excused herself very embarrassed and for a moment Lord Melbourne feared she might cry.  
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Eleanor! " said Lord Melbourne with sincere affection and took the young woman's hand to kiss the back of the hand, chivalrously, saving the embarrassing situation "We finally met. George has praised your beauty a lot, but now I see that his words they have not done you justice. You are definitely a very beautiful woman, too beautiful for an old ugly old man like George."  
"Thank you, Lord Melbourne! " Eleanor replied blushing and with a shy but beautiful smile.  
"In the old and foolish you make me dear friend!" George replied mockingly and an amused smile, again good mood "These are the children... John..." pointing to the little boy, who shyly hugged leg of his father "...that's the little Mary..." he said, pointing to the little girl who was in the arms of a maid, and she saw Lord Melbourne with open eyes, curiously "... and my little princess, Elizabeth" he said pointing to the eldest of the children, who stood beside of her mother (mother and daughter looked a lot alike).  
"Say hello to Lord Melbourne, Elizabeth," Eleanor said to her eldest daughter, and the five-year-old girl stepped forward.  
"It is a pleasure to meet you... Lord Melbourne," said the little girl, and bowed of a way more habitual for a lady of the aristocracy of a much greater age than hers, with an unusual safety and elegance for her age.  
Lord Melbourne smiled cheerfully and saw the smiles and gestures of pride of the girl's parents, and then he bent over and put one knee on the floor.  
"It's my pleasure, Lady Elizabeth," said Lord Melbourne, kissing the back of the hand of little girl, as if he were greeting a lady of the aristocracy several years older than her, "If you want, you can call me Uncle William."  
"If you want..." said the girl and hesitantly turned to see their parents, as if asking permission, and saw that they nodded. "All right, Uncle William," she added with a sweet smile.  
"Okay... niece. May I escort you in with your parents? " Lord Melbourne said affectionately, then took her by the hand to walk in behind the girl's parents.  
After dinner, George, Lord Melbourne, Eleanor and the children shared a nice family time. The little boy slept in his mother's lap and the youngest of the girls in her father's lap, but the older girl was attentive to the conversation of the elders, sitting in a chair near Lord Melbourne.  
"Did you know that my daughter Elizabeth is a great admirer of Queen Victoria? " George asked with a smile.  
"Seriously? " asked Lord Melbourne, turning to look at Elizabeth, who looked down and blushed in embarrassment.  
"She collects everything about the Queen..." Eleanor said, though she still seemed a bit shy, she spoke with more confidence in front of Lord Melbourne. "She has newspaper clippings with drawings or caricatures of the Queen, she has several portraits of the Queen that her father has given her, has dolls that she try to dress in a similar way to the Queen and each one calls her "Her Majesty" as if she were talking to the Queen... George says that she is... is a..."  
"A fan... a Queen Victoria fan, because what that girl really feels for the Queen is fanaticism rather than devotion," George said.  
"That is particular, when we were children we did not feel that devotion for our Kings or Princes," replied Lord Melbourne in astonishment.  
"Who could we worship, William? When we were children the King was George III, an old man who afterwards went mad... and his sons, the Princes, were bastards who deserved no admiration," George replied with a snort of disdain.  
"George! " exclaimed Eleanor and Lord Melbourne could see a change of temperament in the woman, that made him think that in private and with George she was not a woman so shy and submissive, but on the contrary could be a woman of strong character.  
"Sorry dear! I know, in front of the children nothing of rude words" apologized George embarrassed and Lord Melbourne rejoiced to see that his friend behaved like a distressed child scolded by his mother.  
"Uncle William... is it true that you're marrying the Queen?" asked little Elizabeth in her sweet, timid voice, taking Lord Melbourne by surprise.  
"Yes, it's true... well, when we can" Lord Melbourne said, looking at the little girl with paternal affection.  
"And the Queen is very pretty? " asked Elizabeth, whose curiosity to know of her idol was greater than her timidity or the polite discretion her parents were instilling in her.  
"Yes, in fact, she is much more beautiful than she appears in the portraits of her. I can assure you that she is a thousand times more beautiful than she is in any of the portraits of her that your father has given you... It is as beautiful as you probably will be when you are her age. She has a beautiful face, beautiful eyes, and beautiful hair," answered Lord Melbourne, eager to please the little girl, but expressing what he really felt.  
The little girl smiled happily and excitedly.  
"Uncle William... can you take me to meet the Queen?" Elizabeth asked with childlike enthusiasm.  
"Elizabeth! " exclaimed George and Eleanor, both scandalized and reprimanding the little girl, who reacted in embarrassment, bowing her head.  
"Calm down... the girl did not ask for anything inappropriate! " exclaimed Lord Melbourne addressing the parents of the little girl and then turned to see the little girl "Of course, sweetheart! I promise you someday you'll meet Queen Victoria... I do not know when and you might have to wait a lot of time, but I promise I'll see to it that you meet the Queen," added Lord Melbourne, speaking with great affection to the little girl, who smiled cheerfully.  
After a while, Eleanor withdrew with the children, and George and Lord Melbourne talked for a while, but then George also withdrew (and Lord Melbourne thought he was anxious to go to the bedroom where his woman was waiting). Then Lord Melbourne stayed until early morning drinking alone, and his mind was inevitably filled with depressed thoughts. He remembered his conversation with Victoria, and the images he imagined of Victoria making the love to Albert, again seized his mind, now conditioned by what Victoria had told him. His imagination recreated scenes of drunken Victoria losing her virginity with a drunken Albert too... and he could not help but feel indignant and sick. He who had believed that she was worthy of a first time beautiful, sublime, poetic, as in the imagination of romantic literature... that to lose virginity she should be honored as a goddess, loved with passion, delicacy and tenderness... could not to accept that she had lost her virginity as a boorish and vulgar woman, drunk as the women of bad reputation who "lived" in the taverns. And again he felt tormented thinking that she was so in love with Albert that not only lost her virginity with him, but was eager to marry him. And where was he in her mind and in her heart if she was willing to marry another man and love him for the rest of her life?  
It tormented him to think that she did not love him, that she could forget him so easily and that she could live a life without him and another man so happily. When he went to the bedroom, he made it, depressed, and lay on his back on the bed, not taking off his clothes, and unable to sleep. At dawn he had slept very little and his mood was very dark.  
After lunch George and Lord Melbourne went for a walk and they came to the edge of a cliff that was in the lands of George. At the foot of the cliff was the sea, in a cove full of rocky promontories against which they beat strong waves. At that time the sky was a little cloudy, and a strong wind was blowing, making the sea more raging.  
George and Lord Melbourne stared at the beautiful, breathtaking view.  
"I'd like to run away... run away from everything and leave problems and sorrow behind," Lord Melbourne said aloud, but as if speaking to himself.  
"Maybe you could do it... get on a boat on this coast and flee to France, and from there to anywhere in the world. Of course, you would leave England behind in a storm," George said mockingly, but with a truthful background.  
"Or I could have an accident, slip and fall into the sea... a tragic accident that would put an end to all my troubles," Lord Melbourne said in a seemingly calm tone, but his brow furrowed and looking down at the bottom of the cliff.  
"I'd say you have to be such a son of a bitch to go to a friend's property to commit suicide," George replied in a seemingly derisive tone, but with concern on his face, as if he feared that Lord Melbourne was really ready to jump and approaching with slow steps.  
"George, when we were in the Army you were never faster than me, I always beat you in speed, apart from other things," said Lord Melbourne with an ironic smile and a mocking tone, but still seeing the bottom of the cliff.  
"But it does not mean I do not try... and if I fell on the precipice, you'd be guilty of leaving orphans to small children," George replied, coming a little closer.  
Lord Melbourne turned to face him and walked a few steps away from the edge of the cliff.  
"Do not be silly, George! I'm kidding you... suicide would be too easy a way out, and I've never had the freedom to take the easy way" said Lord Melbourne, passing side George and away from him and the cliff. "Let's go before you're the one who jumps to the void!  
"You bastard! " cried George half seriously and half jokingly.  
The next day Lord George went to the courtyard behind the house, walking out of the kitchen door and found two men, one of them an employee of his service and the other a more "particular" man.  
He was a man of medium stature and very skinny, with very white skin, and curly hair and dark chestnut, a somewhat childlike face with prominent nose and big eyes. He was dressed elegantly, perhaps a little quirky or flashy, but not in excess. He was very young, but the most remarkable thing about him were his 'effeminate' ways.  
"Mr. Williams, it's a pleasure to meet you," George said, smiling and shaking the young man's hand.  
"Lord George, it's my pleasure, too," Williams said in an effeminate voice that made George's employee, a stout, hard man, smile with irony and malice.  
"Well, as I spoke with your boss, you will have everything necessary to carry out your mission," said George kindly.  
"Okay, but I want to make something clear, Lord George. I do my work independently, even from my boss, and I certainly do not do it to please anyone, only the public" said the serious young man, all that allowed him his 'female' behavior.  
"Of course, I would not expect less from a professional like you," George replied honestly.  
"And I really hope Lord Melbourne is not aware of this," said the young man.  
"Young man, I have no habit to lie and if I have told your boss that he does not know, it is he does not know. It is rude to doubt the host's word... the master of the house," George replied angrily and with an intimidating gesture on his face.  
"Excuse me, Lord George... I apologize for my impertinence," replied the frightened young man.  
"No problem... Peter, give the young man his clothes. Now you'll excuse me, I have to go back to my guest," George said.  
The other men waved at him with deference. When they was alone, George's clerk handed the elegant, effeminate young man a bundle of clothes, and the young man wrinkled his face when he saw it.  
That afternoon George insisted on taking Lord Melbourne to a field where there were trunks and axes, and then George took off his jacket and rolled up his shirt.  
"What are you doing, George? " asked Lord Melbourne.  
"What do you think? I'm going to split logs... and you'll help me," George replied.  
"Are you crazy! " exclaimed Lord Melbourne.  
"Why!... Is 'Lady Melbourne' too delicate to work as a man? " said George sarcastically.  
"Do not be childish, George! You will not provoke me," Lord Melbourne answered.  
"15 pounds... I'll bet 15 pounds that you're the first to get tired," George said cheerfully.  
"I get tired, before you!... Do not make me laugh! " Lord Melbourne mocked.  
"I am so convinced that I raise the bet at 20 pounds," George said, taking the ax. "It will be like when we were kids and I always won you."  
"That you always earned me!... I see that age is making a dent in your memory! " Lord Melbourne mocked, and began to take off his jacket and roll up his shirt.  
They both started to break trunks with enthusiasm, while close to them George's employee was with young Williams, who was dressed like a peasant. The two of them pretended to work plowing the field, but young Williams did not take his eyes off Lord Melbourne. But after a while Williams looked bored...  
"William, take off your shirt," George said as he took off his own shirt, sweating a lot like his friend.  
Lord Melbourne saw one side and the other.  
"Easy William. Only my employees can see us, your image will not be 'stained', " replied George.  
Lord Melbourne removed his shirt, undressing his sweat-covered torso. When he did so the young Williams was impressed and put a gesture in the face like that of a woman who looks with lust at a handsome, half-naked man. George's employee smiled with disdain and irony at the sight of him. For a while more George and Lord Melbourne broke trunks under the watchful gaze of young Williams, until George gave up before the rejoicing of Lord Melbourne.  
Then they went to the mansion, they bathed and dressed to go out again with Eleanor and the children. To Lord Melbourne's surprise they went to a popular party organized by George's tenants, poor peasants. They mingled with them, and Lord Melbourne observed that George and his companion Eleanor were very dear to the tenants, and he too was pleased to see that people treated him with affection and admiration, knowing that he was the man who was most likely to become the Consort of the Queen, apart being from the former Prime Minister.  
"What are we doing here, George? " Lord Melbourne asked in confusion, at a time when they were both alone.  
"Do you dislike it? " asked George seriously and inquisitively.  
"No, not necessarily... but I did not think..."  
"What do you see around you, William?... People like this it's the one you've ruled for years... during the years that you were Prime Minister you had the lives of millions of people like these in your hands. For better or for worse they suffered the consequences of your decisions... their lives were conditioned by the measures that your ministers and you took from the government. It is good that you know these people a little, the British people... because they are also the subjects of Victoria, your future wife. You must know them, because more and more the future of the Queen and the whole country will depend on their support. Treat them with love and respect, and they will be loyal to you until death," George said sincerely.  
Following Lord George's advice, Lord Melbourne mingled with the poor peasants and to his surprise he discovered that the company of many was more pleasant than the company of many aristocrats, and that he felt surprisingly comfortable talking to them in an atmosphere of camaraderie despite that they were very respectful of his superior social standing. Lord Melbourne enjoyed seeing people dancing and drinking around the bonfires on a starry night, though in his mind Victoria was always present. And out of the shadows young Williams did not take his eyes off of him, and often he would sneak up to hear how he talked to the tenants.  
The next day Lord Melbourne went to the beach with George and little Elizabeth. As George and his daughter barefoots slipped into the water up to the father's ankles and his daughter's knees, Lord Melbourne sat on some rocks and watched them with a sad smile. George played with the little girl, and he lifted her by putting her on his shoulders, lowering and raising her, while the little girl laughed happily.  
After a while they approached Lord Melbourne and chatted with him with laughter, while Williams watched them from a distance and took notes in a small notebook.  
And quickly, it was time to return to London, for the wedding process had to be hastened. Lord Melbourne bowed fondly to little Elizabeth, kneeling before her as he did to Victoria.  
"May I have the audacity to kiss you on the cheek, Lady Elizabeth?" asked Lord Melbourne.  
The little girl offered her the cheek to kiss, and he did it with tenderness. Lord Melbourne said goodbye affectionately at the rest of the family, especially Eleanor. Then he climbed into the carriage and watched as George said goodbye affectionately from his family, and as Eleanor let out a few tears, the children wept openly. George climbed into the carriage with damp eyes. After the carriage had advanced a little, Lord Melbourne spoke.  
"You should have stayed with your family longer," said Lord Melbourne.  
"Do not worry, I've decided to bring them to London. I got tired of hiding them. I want Elizabeth to receive a better education and prepare herself to have the best future possible... but first, I must make a few arrangements... And besides, I must serve England and secure the future of this country, making sure that you marry Victoria," George said as if he were speaking of a great patriotic service.  
"Well, I'm glad to know that my marriage and the fate of the country lie in your hands!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne mocking but affectionate "Seriously, you have given me much to think about this trip, George. I thank you from the bottom of my heart."  
The carriage continued on its way to London, while on a horse Williams was hurrying back to the British capital, overtaking Lord Melbourne and George.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 8: Prelude to Wedding.  
> Note: I invite you to join the Facebook group: For the love of Vicbourne. In that group many fans of Vicbourne we gather in a pleasant atmosphere to enjoy our favorite fandom.


	8. Prelude to Wedding (1).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Lord Melbourne returns to London, something related to him produces an immense surprise in Victoria and the most loyal women of the Court. A hot surprise, that will leave everyone gawked.

Queen Victoria was in a small room in Buckingham Palace with her mother, Lady Emma Portman, Harriet Sutherland and Lehzen. On that day the Queen was ill, still sad and depressed by her tense farewell to Lord Melbourne when he went to the country house of his friend, distressed and anxious for his imminent return, and sick... the Queen was increasingly manifesting serious discomfort for her pregnancy, and that made her feel angry and scared. The situation also generated restlessness in the loyal women who surrounded her at that time... with dissimulation the eyes of the Duchess, Lehzen, Emma and Harriet were fixed in Victoria, and looked for signs of pregnancy. Although the clothes specially adapted by Mrs. Jenkins with the help of Skerrett concealed her condition, for a shrewd eye began to notice that the Queen gained weight. If things did not go fast enough and the wedding with Lord Melbourne was not coming soon, the consequences would be disastrous because it would be impossible to hide the Queen's pregnancy.   
The women sincerely loved the Queen, each in her own way and in varying degrees, but all worried about the danger hanging over the young Queen. Victoria's discomfort and her volatile state of mind, but in which moodiness and anguish prevailed, only made the atmosphere of the small circle of women worse. The meeting was going on with some tension and quite a bit of discouragement.  
"Your Majesty, does Lord Melbourne return today? " Harriet asked, trying to find a topic of conversation to ease the somber state of the crowd.  
"Yes, that he let me know by letter," Victoria replied, remembering with discouragement the brief message that Lord Melbourne sent her, devoid of the affection and charm he used earlier in his letters to her. "But I doubt if I see him today, to arrive exhausted and perhaps overwhelmed... though I'm not sure he'll come it to see me tomorrow," Victoria added somber and sadly, and her lips trembled as if she were to make pout and to burst into tears.   
"I'm sure William will come tomorrow, Your Majesty. I know him and I could swear it," Emma said sweetly, comfortingly. "I just happened to see a headline in this newspaper about William's trip to George's property... it seems to be a chronicle or something. Do you want me to read it, Your Majesty?... It might be interesting," Emma added with interest in distracting Victoria.  
Victoria's mother rolled her eyes in a gesture of boredom, and the Queen did not seem particularly excited, but she did not seem to reject the idea either.  
"It's all right, my dear Emma. After all there is nothing better to do, with my discomfort I have no desire to play cards, and to read puts me rather dizzy. Please Emma, read it," Victoria replied.  
Emma smiled a friendly smile and began to read the chronicle. An introduction spoke of George's beautiful property and the arrival it from Lord Melbourne, and as both friends seemed very close.   
" ...'then Lord George and Lord Melbourne went to this place in the meadow, where there were a pile of logs and axes. Lord George proposed to Lord Melbourne they cut logs, and he made a bet of a few pounds to see which of the two got tired first' ... that is very typical of George, when they was children he liked to challenge William with bets, and he is still still childish," said Emma, interrupting the reading with a chuckle, which made Victoria smile with some sweetness, imagining Lord Melbourne as a child playing with his friend, " 'so both men began to cut logs with the axes . A curious and amusing vision, that of two aristocrats accustomed to the salons of royalty and nobility, and in the case of Lord Melbourne to the corridors of Parliament and Palace no less than as Prime Minister, both powerful men chopping wood as the humble peasants. It was not long before both men started to sweat, and then'... "  
Emma interrupted the reading, although by the gesture of her face it was evident that she continued reading in silence, and the expression of her face reflected a great surprise and even seemed to pale a little. Victoria watched her with interest and growing concern, trying to imagine what would have left Emma like this, distressed by what they might say of Lord Melbourne in the press. The other women also turned to see her with curiosity, and the Duchess, Lehzen and Harriet who were sewing, temporarily left their tissues.  
"Emma, what's wrong? Please continue, do not make me nervous. Whatever, I prefer to find out already" said Victoria anguished and with some anger.   
"No, Majesty, it's nothing bad... it's just that... well, I'm coming," Emma replied, looking a bit embarrassed, and resuming her reading of the chronicle. " 'Then Lord George had the idea of getting rid of their shirts. Lord Melbourne seemed reluctant, but then he accepted, convinced that he was in an intimate setting, away from curious stares. So Lord Melbourne took off his shirt and uncovered his torso... What a sight! Few people who have known Lord Melbourne, the right and elegant Lord Melbourne, the formal and modest Lord Melbourne, the man who until recently was Prime Minister and who is the presumed future husband of the Queen, could imagine that under his clothes is hidden'..." Emma hesitated a little. " '...hides an Adonis..."  
Victoria gave a look of astonishment, her mother looked incredulous, and Lehzen and Harriet looked a little bewildered.  
"...'I do not exaggerate to say it... Lord Melbourne wore a wide chest, with powerful pecs, and a flat and hard belly. The entire front of his torso, from his strong shoulders to his stone belly through his magnificent pectorals, is a perfect set of athletic and fibrous muscles... His back broad V-shaped does not demerits from the front of his torso, as it is a strong back and manly. His arms are muscular, and they look powerful. His whole body from the neck to the waist looks sculptural to the naked, like the glorious torso of a gladiator, one of the fierce men who fought to death in the Roman Circus'... "   
Harriet and Lehzen were wide-eyed, amazed. Victoria wore a funny and comical gesture on her face, a gesture that reflected contradictory emotions, surprise, disbelief... excitement. Her open eyes showed deep interest, the blush on her cheeks reflected an embarrassing emotion. The Duchess saw her daughter sideways with curiosity and malice.   
"...'But there are still other reasons for this analogy to be mentioned. As he continued to cut wood, the sweat poured down his back and his chest to fall to the belly and bottom to the back... Rivers of sweat gushed, from the pores of his sun-tanned skin, and they stroked down every inch of that same skin, running through hard pectorals like stones, running over athlete's muscles, until they reached the end of their path... It is not difficult, to imagine that this vision would been a heavenly dream for the beautiful goddess Aphrodite, who in Lord Melbourne would have found a new Adonis to overturn her lust. Nor is it difficult to imagine a sculptor of those who have carved the finest statues of the most beautiful Greek gods by drawing inspiration from the body of our beloved Lord Melbourne, for the body of the future Consort of the Queen has nothing to envy to the body of the mythical Hercules'... "  
As she listened, Victoria's heart quickened and her breathing grew louder, and her face reflected a growing, hot excitement that the innocent Victoria could not conceal well.   
"...'it may be thought that I exaggerated, but if you all had been present there would not doubt... Certainly it is difficult to imagine that under his luxurious and formal clothes Lord Melbourne can hide a manly beauty so portentous, although his great stature is a good indication. But that incredible vision was still missing. When Lord George gave up and ended the friendly competition between them, Lord Melbourne took a bucket of water and dropped his contents over his head... The water fell rudely on his head and descended shamelessly and savagely on his breast and his back of manly idol. The curls of his dark hair gleamed in the sunlight reflected in the drops of water, and then the handsome Lord shook his head, throwing drops of water in all directions... As if it were a vision of The Iliad, sunbeams made their way through the twilight dusk clouds and reflected on that tanned skin, like that of a handsome romantic hero of the Mediterranean Europe, and the sweat and water created an illusion... as if someone had anointed oil on the powerful pectorals, on the muscles of his belly and his arms, on the broad and strong back, and surely under his pants he wore strong legs and muscular as the rest of his body . And then came to my mind a classic painting that represented Achilles victorious, standing on the body of his enemy Hector, and Achilles was naked... wearing a perfect body of man, muscular and beautiful in his figure and proportions, and his face reflected the terrible wrath of the warrior, and all of him was the living image of a demigod, a stallion on Olympus. Lord Melbourne looked like a vision that would make any damsel faint and sigh at any woman."   
Emma looked embarrassed when she finished reading, Harriet made an effort not to laugh while hiding her smile with a hand, Lehzen looked scandalized and if she had been Catholic would probably be frantically crossing... and Victoria was red like a tomato, with a mischievous smile and sweet at the same time, and bright eyes, betraying the lustful thoughts that passed through her mind at that moment. The Duchess watched her daughter between amused and malicious, and with some envy...  
"Well, Drina, you must be happier than ever to have chosen Lord Melbourne as your husband. I think you will be the envy of all the women of England," said the Duchess in mocking and malicious tones.  
"Mama! " cried Victoria ashamed.  
"It's true, Drina! After all, you will be married to an Olympian stallion with a beautiful, muscular body tanned by the sun," replied the Duchess, displaying a sense of humor strange in her.   
Harriet could not restrain herself and burst out laughing almost hysterically, and Emma could not help but catch, and began to laugh frantically. Victoria could not stay immune, and she also began to laugh more and more thundering until tears came out in the middle of laughter, relaxing her sexual tension. The Duchess laughed as she had not for a long time, and even Lehzen gave up her usual coolness and laughed.  
"Oh Mama!... You made me laugh, as I did not laugh for a long time! " cried Victoria, wiping her tears away as she kept laughing.  
"You owe me laughter, Drina!... But the blush on your cheeks is due to the visions of your beloved Lord Melbourne half naked," replied the Duchess, amused and wicked.  
"Mama! " Victoria protested scandalized as she turned redder.  
"Come on, Drina! I was also your age... and I must admit that this story is right, even if it is very libidinous... Lord Melbourne is a very handsome man" said the Duchess.   
"You think Lord M is very handsome! " exclaimed Victoria, surprised and disbelieving.  
"Of course, Drina! I have had my differences with Lord Melbourne in the past, and it is true that he and me are still not friends. And it is true that I am a little irritated by his personality... but I am not blind, and I am a woman with good taste, and I recognize that Lord Melbourne is one of the most handsome men I have met in my life, and I have met many. His face is very attractive, especially his beautiful eyes, and his body... his body is very beautiful, a strong and virile body. I imagine you have noticed how he is dismounted of horse, any woman the pulse is accelerating by seeing his thighs and legs when dismounting" replied the Duchess.  
"Mama! " Victoria protested again, scandalized.  
"Drina, please! We are all grown women... you really are a very lucky woman to marry such a man, even though he is much older than you, although experience is also valuable. I'm glad for you," said the Duchess.   
Victoria giggled nervously, and looked excited, embarrassed, and happy.  
"But who wrote such a shameless chronicle?" Victoria asked, still laughing, trying to divert the subject to other aspects less embarrassing for her.  
"He wrote it..." Emma replied, looking in the header for the name of the chronicler "Richard Williams... I understand! "  
"Really why? " Victoria asked.  
"Well, it's just that... according to what I heard, this young Williams, the journalist... he's 'sodomite', " Emma replied, embarrassed.  
"Sodomite?... What is that? " Victoria asked confused.  
Emma and Harriet exchanged uncomfortable looks.   
"Drina, a sodomite is a man who likes other men..." replied the Duchess, who saw that her innocent daughter was still confused "is a man who feels for other men the same feelings and desires that women feel for men, is a man who can fall in love with other men and who wishes to share the bed with other men as women do," added Victoria's exasperated mother.  
Victoria made a gesture of revulsion and scandal on her face.  
"That exist! " Victoria exclaimed in disbelief.  
"Lehzen, I should not have left Drina's education in regard to the relations between men and women, and matters of bedchamber, in your hands! Perhaps we would not have avoided some distastes," protested the Duchess as she turned to see Lehzen, making a veiled reference to Victoria's pregnancy... while the Baroness reacted by blushing and angrily at her face.  
"Mama, do not be mean to Lehzen! She did the best she could... Oh my God, there are so many things I do not know!... But then, did this man see Lord M with the eyes of a woman? " said Victoria, who did not know whether to be disgusted or amused.   
"Of course, Drina!... Do not you see what he talk about him as a female in heat would talk about a stallion? " replied the Duchess with mockery and a certain disdain.  
"Mama! " Victoria exclaimed looking down and laughing, while Emma and Harriet were laughing too "I still have trouble recognizing Lord M in that chronicle... I mean, I do not doubt that his body... well, that his body is..." tried to add Victoria, but she felt ashamed and could not find the right words.  
"Beautiful and virile, like that of a Greek God?" asked the Duchess amused.  
"Yeah, well, although I would not use those words... maybe... I was talking about cutting wood like a humble peasant and half naked in the middle of the field," Victoria replied, though inside she felt horny, imagining the images of Lord Melbourne shirtless and bathed in sweat.   
"That's George, Majesty... He knows which keys to play, how to manipulate William to do what he wants. And when they were both children, they were a bit wild... on the estate of George's family, or those, of William's family, they ran through the countryside, sometimes without a shirt or shirt open while playing such rude games. Later William matured a lot more, while George is still a bit childish for his age... but I think William likes his company so much because sometimes he makes him feel like a child again, and relive the time when he was happy and he had no worries," Emma replied with tenderness and nostalgia.  
Victoria imagining sweetly Lord Melbourne, like a happy, wild child.  
"But I'm sure this is not going to like anything him," Emma said a little amused.  
Meanwhile Lord Melbourne and George had arrived at George's house in London, and George was laughing as he read the chronicle alone in a room, awaiting Lord Melbourne who had made a brief visit to the bathroom. When Lord Melbourne entered the room, he was surprised to see his friend laughing alone.   
"What is so funny? " asked Lord Melbourne.  
"Nothing!... Only that I'm so good, that sometimes I'm surprised myself... are we leaving?"  
"Yes, I must pick it that up before I go to Brocket Hall," said Lord Melbourne.  
When both men were about to leave George's mansion, Lord Melbourne's friend whispered in his ear to his butler.  
"Let the boys hasten to follow us," said George.   
"Sure, my Lord," the butler answered with a slight smile.  
When Lord Melbourne and George descended from the carriage on a busy street in central London, a group of young men descended from another carriage. The boys dispersed in different directions.  
"Hey, is not that Lord Melbourne? " said one of the young people to another near a group of women so that they heard it.  
"Yes, it is him," the other pretended.  
The young men repeated the scene in different parts of the street, until the whole crowd learned that he was Lord Melbourne, and the women were excited.   
"Lord Melbourne... hot man! " shouted a relatively humble-looking woman.  
"What did that woman yell at me?" asked Lord Melbourne, puzzled as he searched the woman's face in the crowd.  
"Nothing! It must be some Tory who shouted a swearword," Lord George replied, suppressing his laughter.  
At that moment three young girls, barely younger than Victoria, dressed elegantly, like upper-class girls, approached Lord Melbourne and George, blushing and giggling.  
"Excuse me, sir... are you Lord Melbourne?" asked the boldest, but red as a tomato and trembling with emotion.  
"Yes, it is me, at your service," Lord Melbourne answered friendly and courteously.   
The girls laughed excitedly, and then one by one she introduced herself and offered her hand to Lord Melbourne to kiss her. When he kissed the back of each hand, every girl seemed to faint from the excitement.  
"Please, Lord Melbourne, you could sign me in this handkerchief as a souvenir of yours!" asked the most daring of the girls by offering him a handkerchief, in what was perhaps the request of the first autograph in history.  
Lord Melbourne was puzzled, while George could not suppress his laughter. Lord George offered a writing pen that he went quickly to search to a nearby store and Lord Melbourne signed the handkerchief. The girl took the handkerchief with her fingers and touched his hand with delight. Then a lady who was waiting nearby, frowning, approached.   
"Come on, young ladies! Do not continue to annoy Lord Melbourne" said the governess of one of them in annoyance.  
When the girls left, the owner of the handkerchief kissed it, and all the girls laughed, funny.  
"My lady, I'm going to tell her mother! " the governess scolded her.  
"George, what's wrong with people today? " asked Lord Melbourne, while his friend laughed.  
Lord Melbourne continued to notice the strange behavior of the people until he finished his errands in the street and went to Brocket Hall, saying goodbye to George who went to his own house. When he reached Brocket Hall, he talked to his butler in his library, before settling down to drink alone.  
"My lord, before I left, I wanted to suggest that you read this chronicle... I think you will find it interesting," the butler said, suppressing a funny smile.   
"All right, I will, Robert... Thank you, you can retire" said Lord Melbourne kindly and with a smile.  
After a few minutes, Lord Melbourne settled into his favorite armchair with a glass of brandy and set out to read the newspaper's chronicle. As he read, his face turned red and covered himself with a gesture of anger.  
"Damn you, George!... I'm going to murder you! " exclaimed Lord Melbourne furiously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 9: Prelude to Wedding (2).


	9. Prelude to Wedding (2).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Melbourne demands explanations from George, after, he has an emotional reunion with Victoria, the Duchess of Kent acts surprisingly, and Victoria will ask advice from her mother... a surprising query.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read the notes at the end of the chapter.

Lord George was sitting in an armchair in the library of his London home, drinking coffee while he read the newspaper. He was dressed in house-worn clothes, very similar to the one his friend Lord Melbourne used in the privacy of his own home (revealing similar tastes of both friends even in dress). He was concentrating on his reading, when he heard a knock at the front door of the mansion and as a servant opened the door, and then he knew that the visitor was Lord Melbourne, by his voice (in a higher than normal tone). George smiled mischievously and mockingly, like a child's, knowing perfectly well, what would come next. He hid his smile, and put a serious face on his face, trying to appear indifferent and formality, and pretended that he was still reading the newspaper.  
When Lord Melbourne entered the library with fury in his face, George remained unchanged, as if he ignored his presence.  
"You're a bastard, George! " exclaimed Lord Melbourne, without raising the tone, but with anger in his voice.  
"Good morning to you too, Lord Melbourne," George replied quietly but with some irony, not taking his eyes off the newspaper.   
"How dare you!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne, raising his voice a little indignantly.  
"Why are you so angry?" George replied, still pretending being calm and indifferent.  
"Do not be shameless!... You framed me!... Or are you going to deny that damn journalist was acting under your auspices? Only with your knowledge and collaboration could that bastard enter your lands and pretend that he was your employee for him to come near us... You made me take my shirt off, for the degenerate to see me! " cried Lord Melbourne angrily.  
"I plead guilty, Your Honor... that man acted under my auspices," answered George with impudence and calm.  
"This is not a game, George! You realize that you have betrayed my confidence! I..." Lord Melbourne continued angrily.  
"Do you realize that this chronicle is a big step forward in getting the Queen's wedding with you? " George asked, pushing aside the newspaper and turning his attention to Lord Melbourne.  
"What nonsense you're saying! " exclaimed Lord Melbourne.   
"Is this scandalous?... Yes, it is... but everyone is talking about you, public opinion is focused on you. But the most important thing is that women are attracted to you... all women in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, even from the colonies, when the British newspapers arrive to them... all women are intrigued by you and many feel horny when they imagine you as described you by our friend the sodomite... I think even the most romantic will dream of being in Victoria's place and marrying you... Now, women do not vote, but they have a great influence on their husbands, fathers and sons, and many men are influenced by the opinion of women at home when voting, although few are willing to admit it. But politicians know this, you should know... this can have a major influence to change the direction of public opinion and therefore to put pressure on politicians to approve the wedding... especially having a general election, around the corner," George explained, with condescending, with teacher tone.  
"What you're saying... I do not think being reflected in that way is..." Lord Melbourne tried to reply, but in a hesitant voice, as if in the background he recognized that George was right.   
"Have you seen the next episode of the chronicle of our friend the sodomite? " George said standing up and putting the newspaper on the chest of Lord Melbourne, who grabbed it with a grimace of disgust on the face. "Surely not, because you were in a great hurry to come and kill me and you would not have read the press today... continuou the chronicle with the popular party to which I took you, that of the peasants and fishermen... Of course, the chronicle describes you as a lover of the poor... a friend of the people, a man who awakens the affection of the weak and oppressed. That means more support for the cause of the wedding... your cause, my friend. Of course there is no shortage of people who they will say that you are an opportunist, a populist demagogue, but in the end it will not matter... when people see you as the Queen's ideal husband, who will help her to achieve and maintain the love of the poorest of our society. When you become a popular figure in the slums of London and not just in the aristocratic salons," George said, carrying his cup to a small table where there was a pitcher of coffee and poured himself more.  
Lord Melbourne frowned at the headline.   
"And I can tell you that in the tomorrow episode of the chronicle he will describe the moments you had with the local children... because they can not specifically mention my children because of my agreement with the newspaper... With that you will gain the heart of the mothers and grandmothers, and of all who have a tender heart. We will add the support of many people to the cause, William," added George.  
"So in other words... you are my manager of electoral campaign to become me Victoria's husband and therefore Consort of the Queen ... The point is this is not an election campaign, George," said Lord Melbourne, a little more serene but still angry.  
"You're wrong, William... of course it's an election campaign. After all, it is a question of pressing the imbeciles of Parliament so that they do not raise any more objections and hasten to approve the agreements necessary to proceed with the wedding... And the key factor here is the 'hurry'... we have the time against, or do you think that the secret of the Queen will be kept safe if this impasse goes on for a long time, and if you do not marry her soon? " George argued, seeing his friend in the eyes.   
Lord Melbourne shuddered a little, and the look on his face grew tense and worried. After a few moments he loosened his jaw a little and took a seat, crossing his legs, trying to relax.  
"And you think this can really speed things up? " asked Lord Melbourne.  
"I believe it, but in any case, it can not hurt... The point is to generate a wave of popular support for the wedding, to make the vast majority of public opinion support this marriage... As you well know, the main obstacle is the resistance of a still large group of Conservative Party members who have defied the will of Peel and Wellington... but if we can conquer the public, even they will end up bowing over quickly... They will not want to lose their seats at the next General Election, especially if they start getting letters from voters in their constituencies demanding that they support the wedding... something my agents are already working on." George explained.  
"Your agents?... but of what...? " asked Lord Melbourne bewildered.   
"The less you know better, William... You calm, we are on the right track, I think we will be in a position to win the decisive vote in the House in a short time," George replied comfortingly.  
"George, this is a nightmare!... I just wanted peace at this stage of my life, and now I am involved in a political war trying to avoid a catastrophe for the country, and my personal life turned into a disaster... at least I have a good friend by my side, although I really do not like your methods. In any case, I am grateful and I hope I can do something to compensate you," said Lord Melbourne looking tired and a little distressed.  
"Do not worry," said George, "by naming me your private Secretary, I have enough."  
"Private secretary! " exclaimed Lord Melbourne, surprised.  
"As a Consort of the Queen you will need a private Secretary, at least formally. I wish I had that honor," said George.   
"Well, I have no objections to that, though it will serve you little, to be my private Secretary when I shall not be the one to reign, but Victoria will continue to do so, of course. But I have no problem, if it depended on me I would make you Duke," said Lord Melbourne.  
"Time to time, my friend... Maybe someday I'll be Duke," George said with a laugh. "For now, we must focus on capitalizing on your popularity to advance the battle in Parliament."  
"Do not think I'm not angry! If I had that bloody sodomite in front of me right now... I think I would challenge him to duel," Lord Melbourne said earnestly.  
"That would be very inconvenient, William... the future husband of the Queen in a duel to a journalist... a representative of freedom of speech... On the other hand, you can not blame the 'damsel' for having written such an ardent chronicle when you seduced her with your Greek God body..." George said mockingly and with laughter at the end.   
"Damned idiot! " exclaimed Lord Melbourne, tossing the newspaper to his friend.  
"Will you come with me for lunch? " George asked, more seriously.  
"Of course," said Lord Melbourne.  
Some time later, an anxious Victoria waited in a window of Buckingham Palace for the arrival of Lord Melbourne, whose visit had been announced by a message. It was the first time she had seen him since his return from Cornwall, and since she learned of the contents of the famous chronicle. She was so nervous that she could not stop pacing, and she could not stop wringing her hands. To make matters worse, the discomforts of pregnancy had plagued her that day, and she had already vomited twice.   
The words of the chronicle hung around Victoria's head, and now she saw her memories of Lord Melbourne from another angle. Of course she had always been attracted to him, she had always seen him as an irresistibly handsome man, and he had always awakened in her, sensations which in her virginal innocence she did not quite understand, but which must undoubtedly be the excitement of a woman in the presence of a man she was in love with. But now that she was no longer a virgin, and especially now that she had discovered such a lustful, and hot description of Lord Melbourne's semi-naked body, Victoria was only thinking about him with desire, a feeling of hot, running through her body.  
Every moment she saw the time on a wall clock, and counted the minutes for him to arrive. And in the umpteenth time she looked out the window she saw him...   
She watched him slowly approach the Palace, riding a beautiful dark horse, with a graceful trot that demonstrated his skill and safety as a rider. Victoria felt her heartbeat accelerate, and a sudden heat rose to her cheeks. As Lord Melbourne approached the front door of the Palace, she remembered what her mother said about his dismounting, so she looked more closely at him. And indeed she felt excited when she saw the elegant and daring movement with which Lord Melbourne dismounted from the horse, paying special attention to his thighs and the rest of his legs, and she could not help but sigh.   
Lord Melbourne handed the reins to a servant, but before he left he took out a leather wallet from one of the saddlebags of the saddle, and then entered the Palace.   
Victoria nervous moved away from the window and went to a corner, and then, as if she remembered something suddenly, she went to another corner where there was a mirror and seeing herself it began to touch with anxious fingers her hair and clothes... making sure she looked beautiful and flawless. Then she quickly stood in front of the door, standing and trying to look serene and self-assured, though inside she was dying of her nerves.  
It was not long before a servant opened the door and Lord Melbourne entered with steady pace, although in the seemingly serious gesture of his face there was also a certain nervousness.  
"Ma... Victoria, I'm glad to see you again," said Lord Melbourne with a slight hesitation in his voice, and after a moment's hesitation, approached and gave her a soft, quick kiss on the cheek.  
"Me too, Lord M," Victoria replied with a sweet smile, as she felt her body tremble and a sudden discomfort in her stomach, and even weakness in her legs, and she felt afraid to faint and look like a fool. "Was your trip enjoyable?"  
"Yes... I think so. It gave me the opportunity to rest and relax, and to have some peace. George and his family were very attentives with me... In any case I think I've returned with more strength... and how are you Victoria? " asked Lord Melbourne with kindness.  
"Well... I feel good, especially now that you're back," Victoria answered a little excitedly.  
"And... and you have not felt discomfort with... you know?" Lord Melbourne asked a little uncomfortably.  
"Yes... the truth is that I've felt pretty sick in the last few days, the discomforts have been frequent and strong," Victoria replied a little embarrassed, because the issue of pregnancy was the delicate issue that stood between them.  
"But does the doctor think everything's all right?" Lord Melbourne asked, still uncomfortable, but with sincere concern for her.  
"Yeah, he says he does not see anything to worry about... you know it's not the same with all women and at all times. It seems that in my case will be quite uncomfortable," Victoria replied, fearing to see Lord Melbourne eyes and see the anger and pain again in them.  
"I see," said Lord Melbourne seriously and uncertainly, not knowing how to approach the subject with her.  
"You forgot you're no longer Prime Minister and you came to serve State affairs with me," Victoria said with a smile as she pointed to Lord Melbourne's leather handbag, so similar to the one he used when he was Prime Minister to carry some official documents that needed the Queen's immediate signature in their work meetings... was a clear attempt by Victoria to relax the tension over the issue of pregnancy.   
"No, it's just that I... well, I'd better show it to you at once," Lord Melbourne replied, a little nervous and excited, with a slight smile, as he went to a table and placed his purse on it, and from it he took out a more or less small box.  
Victoria looked curiously at the box in Lord Melbourne's hands.  
"On the day of the meeting of the Privy Council I commissioned the elaboration of this... and now I just picked it up," Lord Melbourne said as he removed the lid of the small box and displayed its contents on a velvet lining.  
Victoria saw surprised a silver bracelet.  
"Is for me! " Victoria exclaimed excitedly and with a charming smile.  
"Of course... it's made of silver with gold inlays. The best, I think, is the inscription," said Lord Melbourne trying to contain the excitement.   
Victoria took the bracelet and read the inscription: "For Victoria, my beloved lifelong companion, like the rooks, Lord Melbourne."  
Victoria's beautiful blue eyes filled with tears and she saw Lord Melbourne with a little girl gesture on her face... a gesture of a wounded puppy, which shook Lord Melbourne and made his eyes wet.  
"It's the most beautiful thing they've ever given me in my life, Lord M! Thanks William! " Victoria said in a voice broken by emotion.  
"It's just... it's a detail. I wanted to show you that in spite of everything, the difficult situation that we are living today... despite the pain or the damage we can do to each other... I will always be for you... And that our friendship, our status as companions of life, should never end, and more now... and that my commitment to this marriage is absolute, for your sake, for the sake of the country... and even that innocent creature you expect," said Lord Melbourne trying to stay calm and not cry himself too.  
"William, I do not know how to pay for such love! " Victoria exclaimed, wanting to hug him, but not daring to do so, as tears continued to stream from her eyes.   
"Wait, there's more..." Lord Melbourne replied, and returned to the purse of the one who took out a slightly larger box. "When my mother was going to die, she... she once told me that if I ever widowed and remarried... well, it goes without saying that she hated Caroline with all her might, for the affair with Byron... the fact is that she told me that if I would remarry and fortunately I did it with a woman worthy of being the Viscountess Melbourne, well, in such a case she wanted something that had belonged to her to be now owned by my wife... I respected my mother's will and kept that familiar relic, but since I had no hope of getting married again, I would leave it in my testament to my brother's wife or my sister. But as fate is capricious..." Lord Melbourne could not to avoid a sardonic mocking smile, "Well, here it is."  
Lord Melbourne opened the box and revealed a beautiful necklace of pearls with diamonds, evidently very expensive and undoubtedly the work of a great goldsmith.   
"It's... it's very beautiful!... Impressive! " exclaimed Victoria, genuinely impressed.  
"The last time someone used it, it was on my mother's neck... for me it's a very beautiful memory. Now it will be a pleasure and an honor to see it in your neck, Victoria," Lord Melbourne replied, and his voice cracked with emotion at the end.  
Victoria burst into tears in her peculiar style, like a little girl, pouting.  
"No, Victoria, do not cry... my gifts were not meant to make you cry. Please, I'd rather see you smile than see you cry," said Lord Melbourne, handing her a handkerchief to dry her tears.  
Victoria made an effort to stop crying as she wiped her tears, and then managed to smile sweetly and charmingly. She put on the bracelet at once, and then she fixed her attention on the necklace.  
"Can you put it on me, William? " Victoria said nervous and excited again, enjoying calling him by name.  
"Of course," he replied.   
Victoria turned her back on him and Lord Melbourne placed the necklace on Victoria's neck, and gently closed the clasp on the back of her neck. She shuddered as she felt his warm, long fingers brushing her skin, and the breath of the man's breath on the back of her neck. Victoria's heart raced like a runaway horse, her body trembling, and she felt like she was drowning, with her breasts expanding and retracting as if they wanted to escape her tight corset. The images described in the chronicle and those she saw when Lord Melbourne dismounted from the horse came to her mind. Her excitement increased as she saw Lord Melbourne's hands lingering on her bare shoulders (thanks to the low-cut dress she wore that day) and Victoria felt the desire, heating her body and tickling her. Mentally she imagined that he was going to turn her around, hug her and kiss her, and maybe... She closed her eyes and opened her lips, waiting anxiously for what could happen.  
But Lord Melbourne pushed his hands away from her.  
"May I see how it looks, on you? " Lord Melbourne asked softly.   
Victoria opened her eyes and blushed, she turned, and Lord Melbourne saw her with bright eyes and a charming smile.  
"It fits you well!... My mother was a very beautiful woman, as beautiful as you... And I'm sure she would have been very happy to see her necklace in you," he said flattering.  
Victoria could not contain herself and hugged him, burying her face in his chest. Lord Melbourne was surprised, but then he hugged her shyly and stroked her back. After a few moments Victoria looked up to see him in the eyes, while the palms of her small hands caressed Lord Melbourne's chest.  
"So... have you forgiven me? " Victoria asked like a little girl, who begged pardon of her parents.   
"Victoria, it's not about forgiving. Actually, you did not offend me Victoria, because you did not have a commitment to me, I acknowledge that. But sometimes we can hurt people who love us with our actions, even if that is not our intention, even if it is not in our plans. You hurt me Victoria... you've hurt me, even if it was not your intention," said Lord Melbourne sadly. "And I do not deny that I was angry... surely I still am. But the wounds of the heart heal with patience... I only ask that you be patient with me, just as I will try to be understanding with you. The next months we must be very patient and understanding, marriage is always hard work, but in our case is harder."  
"But you love me? " Victoria asked, still stroking his chest over the fabric of his shirt.   
"You doubt it?... Of course, there are things that need not be said in words, but if you do need them... I love you," said Lord Melbourne with a sad, sweet and charming face on his face.  
Victoria smiled cheerfully and buried her face in his chest again, with one hand still caressing a part of his broad chest. Victoria's fingers conveyed to her brain the physical sensations of Lord Melbourne's strong, hard chest. With a certain mischief Victoria was feeling Lord Melbourne's chest, checking the shape and hardness of his pectorals, the wide space between them, imagining what it would feel like to feel that bare chest...  
"I hope to repay all that love, Lord M! " cried Victoria, turning away a little to meet his eyes.  
"I'm sure you will... Ma'am," he replied with an amused smile as he called her as he used to, and she laughed, and then he kissed her on the forehead although she would have preferred on her lips... "Well, can you tell me how you're doing with Peel? " Lord Melbourne asked, and she snorted with some annoyance, causing them both to laugh and for an instant was like the old days.   
Some time later Victoria and Lord Melbourne met Victoria's ladies and her mother for dinner at the Palace. At a time when Victoria was leaving Lord Melbourne to say something to Baroness Lehzen, Victoria's mother approached Lord Melbourne, taking advantage of the fact that he was alone, standing by a fireplace.  
"Lord Melbourne, I am glad to see you back," said the Duchess with a smile that strangely looked sincere and a friendly tone unusual in her when she spoke to him.  
"Your Highness, I am also pleased to see you," Lord Melbourne replied, trying to be likable.   
"Lord Melbourne, I want to take the opportunity to tell you something... It's true that in the past we have had our differences and I recognize that I have had certain prejudices towards you, it would be silly to deny it, we are both intelligent people. But now that you are going to marry my daughter, and that at last I have understood the depth and sincerity of your feelings for her, and the fact that we are going to be family... I would like to offer you my sincere friendship," said the Duchess with apparent honesty and some emotion.  
"I... I'm very glad to hear it, Your Highness. And believe me when I say that your gesture honors you, and that you also count on my sincere friendship," Lord Melbourne replied after the initial surprise.   
"You do not know how happy that makes me, Lord Melbourne!" said the Duchess, approaching Lord Melbourne and to his surprise, she placed the palm of one of her hands on his chest, "I would love to have confidence among us, and for the sake, of Victoria we had a very close relationship... She needs more than ever that the people who love her are united to support her, and help her with devotion and loyalty..." continued the Duchess as she gently and with dissimulation moved the palm of her hand over Lord Melbourne's chest, palpating with her fingers through the fabric of the shirt the strong chest of the man.  
Victoria was talking to Lehzen and she turned to see her mother and Lord Melbourne, and she was turning her head toward Lehzen, but suddenly she looked again at Lord Melbourne and the Duchess, and then Victoria made a gesture of surprise and after anger, and quickly approached them leaving Lehzen in the middle of a sentence.   
"Lord M, can I steal my mother from you for a moment? " Victoria asked with disguised courtesy.  
"Of course, in fact I think I'll take advantage of it for a drink. With your permission," said Lord Melbourne, who seemed relieved to be rid of the Duchess and her strange gestures of affection.  
Lord Melbourne walked away and then Victoria turned to see her mother in anger.  
"What the hell did you do, Mama! " Victoria exclaimed softly.  
"That?... Checking the veracity of the newspaper's chronicle... And it's true, Drina! He has a robust and broad chest," replied the Duchess, as if speaking of a minor matter.  
"Mama! It's a shamefulness!... Lord Melbourne is going to be your son-in-law, you can not..." Victoria protested indignantly.  
"Daughter, do not be childish! Of course I would not have an inappropriate relationship with my daughter's husband, even if he was willing, which I certainly do not think will happen or pass through the mind of Lord Melbourne... But that does not mean I can not afford a little fun the coast of your enamored," replied the mocking Duchess.   
"I do not like that anyway!" Victoria was going to continue protesting.  
"Did you see for yourself that his chest was as described by the journalist? " asked the Duchess maliciously and curiously.  
"I... I...! " Victoria stammered nervously as she blushed.  
"So you did! " exclaimed the Duchess amusedly, mocking her daughter.  
"You're impossible... you always make me feel like a child! " Victoria exclaimed angrily and ashamed as she withdrew, listening to her mother's laughter.  
In another corner of the room Lord Melbourne was talking to his friend Emma.  
"Emma, I do not understand what's happening today... the Duchess was a little strange to me," said Lord Melbourne.   
"You mean how she touched your chest? " Emma asked with a funny and ironic expression on her face.  
"Well, among other things... is the way her, and before Victoria..." said Lord Melbourne and then saw that Emma made an effort not to laugh, and then a gesture of understanding lit up his face, "That damn chronicle, right? You all have read it."  
"I'm sorry, William! " Emma exclaimed, laughing. "George sent the newspaper with a messenger recommending me to read the chronicle of your stay in Cornwall in front of the Queen and the ladies, but I did not know what it was about because I did not read it before I did it in front of Her Majesty."  
"Damned George! " Lord Melbourne replied in disgust. "I know now why that since I entered the Palace all the women saw me as weird way."   
"There's nothing wrong with being the man most wanted by the women of the British Empire," Emma said mockingly and started to walk away from him, but as she passed him, she quickly stroked his chest, of playful way without stopping.  
"You too, Emma! " said Lord Melbourne in surprise but at the sight of her mocking smile, he laughed and shook his head to one side and the other as if he was shaking his head, then squinted.  
Later that night, Victoria was in her bedroom accompanied by her mother, who had come to see her after Victoria suffered vomiting and serious malaise. After talking about the subject of pregnancy, and after listening to her mother's advice (sometimes with annoyance) Victoria dared to talk to her mother about an issue that was producing anxiety her.   
"Mama... obviously pregnancy forces the woman to endure many restrictions in her life... There are many things she can not do," Victoria said, sitting on her bed, in her nightgown and anxious on the face.  
"Of course, Drina... but it's the price that women must pay. I wish men understood everything we have to sacrifice! " said the Duchess, who was sitting on a chair.  
"Of course, men... precisely men, when they are married, have certain rights... conjugal rights, and women are supposed to satisfy them..." Victoria said a little uncomfortably.  
"And…? " asked the Duchess, intrigued by her daughter's silence.  
"But... when the woman is pregnant... she...? " Victoria said ashamed and not daring to ask the question.   
"What do you want to know is... if after the wedding you can have carnal relations with Lord Melbourne?... Do you want to know if you are obliged to fulfill your conjugal duties in spite of your pregnancy?... No, it really is not that, it's not about you have to do it if Lord Melbourne asks you... it's about you want to do it and you want to know if you can do it! " exclaimed the Duchess, amused and a little surprised.  
Victoria blushed a lot and ducked her head, avoiding the look of her mother, embarrassed. Oddly, the Duchess was moved by the embarrassment of Victoria, and even her eyes grew wet, trying to remember when her daughter had ceased to be a child to become a woman. And then she prepared to exercise her role as mother and advise her inexperienced daughter...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 10: Prelude to Wedding (3).  
> Spoilers warning (for those who have not seen anything of the second season yet, and do not want to know anything): I want to take this space to make a criticism of the way it was made the fleeting participation of Lord Melbourne in the second season. I can not help feeling that the presence of Lord Melbourne in the second season of the show has been a scam to Vicbourne fans. To falsify history to advance the end of Lord Melbourne's government, and then to advance his death, to shorten Lord M's presence in story seems to me almost a mockery. In the end, Lord Melbourne's presence was limited to a few scenes in just two episodes... just two episodes! As people are moved and shocked by the emotionality of these scenes, no one has noticed what they have been denied. I'm not satisfied with this end for the character on the screen, it seems almost unworthy. Now more than ever we need fanfics to comfort us.


	10. Prelude to Wedding (3).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Duchess and Victoria have an emotional conversation, of a lot of help for the young woman. Meanwhile Lord Melbourne must continue dealing with the aftermath of the chronicle and his unwanted reputation as a hot man. And Victoria will discover the Green-Eyed Monster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I invite you to read the contents of the notes at the end.

The Duchess stood and walked to her daughter, and sat down on the bed beside Victoria, taking one of her daughter's hands, squeezing her in both of hers.  
"Drina, you need not be ashamed... these conversations are normal between mother and daughter," said the Duchess in an affectionate tone.   
"It's just... we've had few conversations like that, Mama," Victoria replied sadly.  
"I know... and I also know it was my fault, I admit it... But now you need me and I'm here," said the Duchess with some emotion. "The first thing you need to know Drina, is that women should not necessarily avoid relationships intimate throughout her pregnancy."  
"Do not?" Victoria asked with interest, though still ashamed, seeing her mother to eyes.  
"Well, it's a bit of a controversial issue... some people think that women should stop having intimate relationships as soon as they find out they're pregnant and not start again until some time after giving birth... But there are other people who thinks that women can have carnal relations during much of their pregnancy... for months, and even when there are only a few weeks to give birth, and even when they have a very bulging belly," replied the Duchess.  
"Seriously!... But what do they do with the belly?" Victoria asked, turning red like a tomato.  
"My little Drina, so sweet and innocent!" exclaimed the Duchess while smiling amused and tender, caressing her a cheek "But you will learn... The point is that as you see there are very different opinions... there are those who believe that a woman should not have intimate relationships with men throughout their pregnancy, from the beginning to the end... and there are those who believe that a woman can have carnal relationships perfectly during most of her pregnancy. The result is that there are women who refuse or try to refuse intimacy with their husbands during pregnancy, while there are others who are happy to continue to have that intimacy until they can no longer... There are also men who do not pretend to have intimacy with their wives when they are pregnant, but there are others who if they wish and demand their wives... If both have the same opinion there is no problem, but if they do have different opinions or different desires, it is a problem that is usually solved in an unfavorable way for the woman," explained the Duchess.  
"And... what did you do, Mama?" Victoria asked shyly.   
"Me!" exclaimed the Duchess a little surprised, because it was really the first time she spoke of her intimacy as a woman with her daughter "Well... I had intimacy for most of the pregnancy... in the case of each of my pregnancies... I had so much intimacy with my first husband as with your father," replied the Duchess as she blushed a little... a blush that had ceased to be habitual in her for many years, and that Victoria had a little fun, making her smile.  
"Why did you want it?" Victoria asked.  
"Yes, of course... neither my first husband nor your father would have pressured me to do something I did not want... But you have to remember one thing, Drina... as I told you before, it also depends on man's desire, that for good or for evil is more important than that of the woman, than yours in this case... You have to understand that what will happens depends on the desire of Lord Melbourne... and you must remember that this case is very particular... because you marry Lord Melbourne, being pregnant with another man," said the Duchess with tone in a sad and compassionate.  
Victoria looked down in pain and tears ran down her cheeks.   
"Mama, I have not forgotten Albert... I still suffer for what happened to him, and he always will had a place in my heart," Victoria said sincerely.  
"I know, sweetheart... I'm not blaming you, and you have the right to go on with your life and be happy with a man you love," said the Duchess very sweetly, as she had seldom done with her daughter, "I say this because it is understandable that a man does not want to have intimate relations with a woman who is waiting for a child of another man... if it were his own child would be something else, but being the child of another man... In this case we can not censor a man for that, it is an understandable feeling not to want to have intimacy with a woman when inside of her body lives a child begotten of another man with that same type of intimacy."  
Victoria saw her mother with a gesture of deep sadness and disappointment on her face, and then looked down again, still crying.   
"But I'm not saying that's what's going to happen... Drina, I'm not inside the head of your beloved Lord Melbourne... I certainly do not know what that man thinks, and God knows that he has often surprised to me... I only know that he is absolutely in love with you and that he would rather cut himself, an arm than hurt you... I had a hard time understanding it, but now I know it" said the Duchess anxious to comfort her daughter, and putting a finger under the chin of Victoria she made her lift her head and turn to see her in the eyes, "Listen, Drina, if you want my advice... what you must do your wedding night is to wait for Lord Melbourne in your bedroom, in your bed... you must wait him as if it were a normal wedding night, and you would were a newly married virgin who waits with innocence and nerves to her husband... you must wait for him dressed as a young woman would in love in that situation, with a beautiful nightgown, bold enough... quite transparent and tight..."  
Victoria blushed again and saw her mother with some surprise, because I never expect to hear that advice of her.   
"Show him the beauty of your body as much as decency allows, offer a promise of passion and love... wait for him, and you show yourself sweet and submissive, but do not show yourself too eager to make love. The rest, you leave it to Lord Melbourne, let it be your husband who decides what you two are going to do and if he wants to make love to you, surrender to him with confidence and let him teach you what to do... I would tell you to have be careful that he do not hurt you, that if necessary you demand him to treat him kindly you, for you and the child, but knowing Lord Melbourne I am sure that he would be very kind with you, that he would not be brusque or inconsiderate with you... If you two make love, I'm sure you'll be very happy and both will enjoy it, especially after learning from that journalist that Lord Melbourne has a body of Greek God..." said the Duchess with a mocking smile at the end.  
"Mama!" Victoria laughed, turning red again.  
The Duchess laughed a little, but then she got a little serious.   
"But if Lord Melbourne does not wish to have intimacy with you on the wedding night, for the subject of the child... you must not distress yourself or distress yourself, much less anger yourself... you must accept it as normal, and try to understand your husband. Anyway, there will be many other nights, and hopefully you two will have many years to come... and Lord Melbourne is in love with you, so sooner rather than later, he will yield to the temptation and will consummate the marriage... even if you have to wait until you give birth," said the Duchess with affection and reassurance.  
"But I... I will not be able to give him my virtue and honor him as he deserves," Victoria replied sadly and ashamed. "He did not deserve that."   
"Drina, we women can only offer our virginity once in life..." answered the Duchess with more sweetness and love, caressing a cheek of her daughter, "Long or short as our life, for many times we have intimate relationships in our life... one time, a single occasion in our life, we lose our virginity. A moment, a moment fleeting and unrepeatable, is the only thing we can never repeat again in our life... and unfortunately for many women that moment is painful and shameful, very sad or even tragic. Many women are forced to lose their virginity with someone they do not love, or who even hates, and I do not want to hurt your sensitivity by telling you about the horrors that many women have suffered in those situations... The fact is that after losing virginity we can no longer reverse the time and we can not give it again, to any man we know in our future, even if it is the most important man of our life..."  
Victoria listened to her mother.   
"But you know what, Drina? Every time a woman makes love for the first time with a man, it is as if she loses her virginity with that man... the first time you put aside your modesty with that man... the first time you undress your body in front that man, the first time you reveal your intimacy in front of him, the first time your body and his body unite in the most intimate way there can be... so it's like losing your virginity again, because it's the first time you experience the caresses and carnal love of that man. So it does not matter that a woman loves several men in her life, every time she gives herself to each of them for the first time is a special occasion, it is like losing her virginity with each of them... When I married you father, and I was a widow with two children of my first husband... and your father was a womanizing man, who had waited too long stop being a bachelor, and who might have died bachelor, if he had not had to marry to beget a potential heir to Crown... We were the least romantic couple that people could imagine, especially for our wedding night... and yet, that did not stop it being a special moment for the two, much more than I expected. Your father was very charming to me and made me feel special, and I'm sure I made him feel special... and you see, I was not a virgin maiden, but the woman who had given birth two children. But our first time... God knows that the first time of your father and me, it were very beautiful and special!" said Duchess, touched, and a pair of tears ran down her cheeks.   
"You never told me about Papa like that!" exclaimed Victoria, weeping.  
"It was not necessary, and perhaps it was also one of my many mistakes... but listen to me, Drina... You remain a virgin in your heart... your body not be intact, but your soul is still innocent and pure. An error of love and inexperience can not defile your beautiful naiveté... And I am sure that Lord Melbourne will appreciate it... he will drink your innocence and find it beautiful and pleasant. Otherwise he would be a fool and I do not think him is... Do not be embarrassed Drina, you are still the most special woman a man can desire and Lord Melbourne will remain the luckiest man in the world to marry you," concluded the Duchess excitedly and mother and daughter hugged each other.  
"Thank you Mama!... I love you!" Victoria exclaimed as she buried her face in her mother's chest.   
"I love you too, Drina! " replied the Duchess, kissing her daughter's head through her hair. "For once I can give you better advice than Lehzen's spinster, that frigid witch," she added mockingly.  
"Ha ha! ... You are bad Mama!" Victoria exclaimed with laughter.  
"That's me!" replied the Duchess funny "Hey Drina, since you have that talent to draw, maybe you should do some drawings of the Greek God body of your future husband in the intimacy..."  
"Mama!" Victoria exclaimed scandalized laughing.  
"It was just an idea, you could illustrate the chronicle of the journalist in love with Lord Melbourne... I think the drawings would be very successful among women, especially among the ladies of the Court..." continued the Duchess laughing.  
"Mama!" Victoria protested with amusement and embarrassment.  
Mother and daughter continued laughing as they had not done in a long time...  
The next morning Victoria was with her mother and her ladies when she heard something that caught her eye in a conversation between Harriet and Emma because she heard the name of Lord Melbourne.  
"What about Lord M, my dear Emma? " Victoria asked with curiosity and an expression on the face of a teenage girl in love who hears something of the boy she is in love with.  
"Oh, nothing important Majesty... I only told Harriet that poor William is quite overwhelmed by the harassment of that he is victim in street, especially by the women," Emma replied with a smile between amused and sweet.  
The gesture of her face changed to a more serious one.   
"Harassment?... What harassment do you mean, my dear Emma? " Victoria asked trying to appear calm but her voice it indicated a certain nervousness.  
Emma began to explain to Victoria (as if it were a funny anecdote) as women, especially younger women, shouted compliments to Lord Melbourne, them some rather shameless, and always alluding at his handsome nature. She also related how the women approached him and tried to flirt with him, or simply they wanted to greet him, and some gave him memories, and as sometimes Lord Melbourne was overwhelmed by the crowd, to the point that police officers had had to help him, some times to get rid of the crowd of fans, and to be able to mount his horse or get into his carriage. But as Emma spoke, regretted it, because Victoria's face had broken down, and at first it paled to finally take a terrifying gesture of anger and turn red, with rage.   
"Those... those shameless women... do not feel any respect for me... for their Queen, for the Crown that I incarnate! ... Evidently those... women do not know the modesty or feel any respect for the decency... but at least they should respect to the fiancé of their Queen... to the man called to be the Consort of their Queen!... They should, respect me!" cried Victoria furiously.  
Emma and Harriet huddled in their somewhat frightened chairs in front of Victoria's reaction, while the Duchess and Lehzen exchanged a significant gaze of concern as both women knew Victoria's character well and recognized the signs of a serious outburst.  
"Those harpies... are not worthy of being called ladies or either English women!" exclaimed Victoria as her rage going in crescendo and then she stood up suddenly, forcing the rest of the women to stand as well, "so little respect, this country feel for me!... So little respect and gratitude I awake in those shameless women who assault Lord M for libidinous purposes in the street!... Why do not they take off their clothes and they throw theirself, naked about Lord M... and so demonstrate to the whole world the little respect and love that treacherous women of England feel for their Queen! "   
Emma was going to say something, but Harriet grabbed her by the arm, scared and she realized that the wisest thing to do was shut up. Lehzen and the Duchess kept exchanging glances, knowing without a doubt that they were facing an outburst of uncontrollable and unpredictable anger...  
"This is a scandal!... It is humiliating and mortifying to me!... I will not tolerate such a grievance!... Lehzen... I am going to write an urgent letter to Sir Robert Peel summoning him to Palace immediately and I want it delivered without delay! "  
"Yes, Your Majesty," said Lehzen resignedly.  
"Drina, what are you going to do? The Prime Minister is not to blame for these silly women harassing Lord Melbourne..." said the Duchess, concerned.  
"But it is his fault that the matter of my wedding is not yet approved in Parliament... I need this to be resolved now, I need Lord M living here with me, under this roof, protected from those witch... of affronts to his decorum... I can not keep waiting!" cried Victoria "I'm going to write that letter already and I want the messenger to leave when the ink is still fresh, Lehzen!"   
Victoria turned her back on them and left without saying goodbye, while Lehzen followed her to arrange everything for the messenger's departure. The Duchess saw Emma and Harriet being shocked and uncomfortable.  
"The Green-Eyed Monster, ladies... the Green-Eyed Monster," said the Duchess.  
Some time later, George arrived at Brocket Hall for one of his frequent visits to his friend Lord Melbourne. He found him in his library sitting in his favorite armchair, drinking a whiskey gulp, his face serious.  
"What is it, William? Robert had a very somber expression..." said George, referring to Brocket Hall's butler "and you do not look better. "  
"George... did you know that after the publication of your friend's damn chronicle I started receiving dozens of letters at Brocket Hall? " said Lord Melbourne with a tone and expression on his face as if he were absent.  
"Letters?... Insults... threats?" George asked worriedly.  
"No... of women... of women who desire me and declare their love to me," replied Lord Melbourne indifferently.   
"What!" exclaimed George, surprised and amused.  
"Today... my butler discovered a sinister conspiracy inside my house... He discovered that a maid sold some of my underpants to some of those crazy, women... dirty underpants," said Lord Melbourne with calm and apparent indifference.  
"What!" cried George again, laughing.  
"It seems that those women paid well for my used underwear... but the thing does not end there... Another maid found out it and sold the information of the picturesque incident to a tabloid newspaper, so all England will find out tomorrow... My butler dismissed them at two and he wanted to report to the police from the girl sold my stolen clothes... but I ordered that he do not, so as not to increase the scandal," said Lord Melbourne with his eyes fixed on the bottom of the library.  
"My God... I can not believe it!" said George, still laughing.   
"The letters I receive daily... I do not even bother reading majority, but the ones I read... some of them could scandalize the Marquis de Sade himself. There is a woman... I think her name is Bernadette... she wrote me a letter saying that she wanted to tie me naked to a bed, and she was quite graphic in the things she wanted to do to me later," said Lord Melbourne frowning and gesturing with the jaw.  
George laughed, and then as if he had an illumination he addressed his friend.  
"By chance... have not you kept that woman's return address? Maybe she will settle for me," George asked funny but apparently seriously.   
"Do not be an idiot!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne showing emotion for the first time in the conversation. "Besides, I burned that letter, as well as all the others... but those women do not settle for that, some of them also send me compromising objects... like their intimate clothes, especially their drawers," explained Lord Melbourne.  
George laughed again.  
"But the most incredible thing was a woman who sent me, along with a letter inside an envelope, a few hairs..." said Lord Melbourne calmly.  
"A hair?... But that's not so..." George began.   
"Some hairs... but they were not of her head..." replied Lord Melbourne.  
"LOL!" cried George.   
George laughed uncontrollably... dropping into an armchair, clutching his belly as he laughed so hard that tears began to fall from his eyes. Lord Melbourne could not help it, and he also laughed hysterically, with tears in his eyes... Both men laughed like children, as crazy as they had not done in many years.  
After endless minutes of hysterical laughter, they were both seated on the floor after slipping from their armchairs in the convulsions of laughter.  
"Since when did not we laugh so much?" asked George.  
"Since when did not we sit on the floor?" asked Lord Melbourne.  
"Since we were in college and we were still teenagers? " George replied.  
"Maybe... You're a good friend George," Lord Melbourne said. "At least you make me laugh," he added affectionately.  
"I know, and so do you," George replied.   
"George, I want to see Catherine... and I want you to bargain, for me with her pimp to buy her freedom, and I want you to help me because I want to give her and her son a home, and give her an allowance," said Lord Melbourne.  
"William... I do not have to tell you that as husband of the Queen it is risky for you to have a mistress, and especially a mistress of this type and her origin," replied George concernedly.  
"George, I have no intention of having mistresses after I get married... I have no desire to break my marriage vows, not even fidelity... I will be faithful to Victoria in every way... but Catherine is a friend, a good friend that together with you helped me out of desperation, that black hole in which I was, and see the light... I am indebted to her and that is why I want to give her the opportunity to redeem herself, to have a healthy and honorable life," answered Lord Melbourne with sincerity and affection.  
"A friend you slept with," George said.   
"And you have not been friends with some woman you slept with in the past, after you stopped sleeping with her? " asked Lord Melbourne.  
"Touché!… I'll make the necessary arrangements. It will be my first action as your Privy Secretary, even if it's unofficially," answered George.  
They both continued to drink, talking and laughing for a long time... and all the time sitting on the floor as when they were children.  
But the next day the mood was very different at Buckingham Palace, where Victoria was upset and nervous because of the discomfort of her pregnancy and the anger she'd had from the day before because of her jealousy over the women who harassed Lord Melbourne. Her meeting with Peel had only made matters worse, because the poor Prime Minister came out uncomfortable and depressed from the Palace after the Queen scolded him like a child, and Victoria herself was more frustrated and distressed.   
"I'm sick of everything!... I'm sick of the ineptitude and disloyalty that surrounds me! " Victoria exclaimed as she walked from side to side, waving her hands.  
"But Your Majesty..." Lehzen was about to reply, standing in front of her.  
"And why are so many beautiful young women working at the Palace?" Victoria asked, standing in front of Lehzen.  
"Majesty, I think I do not understand, that..." Lehzen replied in dismay.  
"I excuses to Skerrett because I like her and trust her... I need her, and I always have her in sight... But those others... when Lord Melbourne comes to live here we will have to make changes," said Victoria seriously and decisively.  
Lehzen's mouth fell open, and with surprise she realized that Victoria's jealousy crisis was much worse than she thought, and she feared her was losing her mind. She prepared to argue calmly to try to save the poor girls from the Palace from a wave of unjustified dismissals.  
"Your Majesty, I think the women who work here are not so beautiful, in fact I think..." Baroness Lehzen tried to argue.   
"I'll also have to check out the Brocket Hall staff, to see if I need to make changes there, too," Victoria said as if she were talking about a serious, state matter.  
"But Your Majesty, Brocket Hall is Lord Melbourne's private residence..." Lehzen tried to say carefully.  
"And I'm going to be the Lady of Brocket Hall... the wife of Lord Melbourne!... To the dismay of those shameless women who crowd the streets of London!... I'll take control and will take over of the Brocket Hall staff, and Lord M should understand if he knows what's best for him," Victoria said furiously.  
"Of course, Your Majesty," Lehzen replied, resigned to the Queen's anger.  
"That damned incompetent doctor! His treatments have not alleviated my discomforts... I'm thinking of dismissing him. All he wants to do is kill me with hunger... surely those shameless women ones would be delighted if I die!" continued Victoria, screaming furiously.   
At that moment Victoria's mother entered the room, but only managed to hear her daughter's last words.  
"Drina... do not tell me you're like this for the incident at Brocket Hall?" said the Duchess, but she immediately regretted, seeing the gesture on the face of Baroness Lehzen, who seemed to warn her that she had made a mistake.  
"Incident at Brocket Hall? What an incident! " Victoria exclaimed a little exalted.  
"Brocket Hall? No, Drina, what I said was..." the Duchess tried to rectify.  
"Do not try to fool me like when I was a little girl, Mama!... I am not stupid... Lehzen... Where are the newspapers today?... Why have not they brought them me as usual?" Victoria asked accusingly.  
"Majesty, the newspapers... were thrown in the trash," Lehzen replied nervously.  
"Why! Who gave the order!" cried Victoria.  
"I did!... I ordered, Drina," the Duchess answered firmly.  
"What are you two hiding from me? I demand to be told me!" Victoria asked with a hard face.   
The two women were silent.  
"I see!" said Victoria, and then went to the door and spoke with a servant. "Tell Miss Skerrett I want to see her... immediately."  
In a pair of minutes Miss Skerrett came into the room and greeted the Queen in the usual manner.  
"Miss Skerrett, what happened at Brocket Hall? What do the newspapers say about it?" Victoria asked imperiously.  
Skerrett nervously turned to see the Duchess and Baroness Lehzen, as if begging for help.  
"Do not look at them!... The Queen is me, and you owe loyalty to me, not to them!" Victoria exclaimed in a very harsh and intimidating tone that she had never used with Skerrett or any other servant.   
"Your Majesty... what happened is that apparently a maid from Brocket Hall sold some clothes to certain women... it seems that she sold Lord Melbourne's underpants that were in dirty clothes," said Skerrett very embarrassed.  
"Women bought Lord Melbourne's dirty underpants! " exclaimed Victoria, incredulous and scandalized.  
"And another maid told the press... and she also said that many women who do not even know Lord Melbourne send cheeky letters to Brocket Hall... and that some accompany them... with their drawers," replied Skerrett, blushing and bowing her head.   
Victoria opened her mouth, wide, and her face paled... she stepped back a few steps as if in shock, and then her face turned red and a gesture of deep anger surfaced. And suddenly Victoria saw a small vase on a table, and grabbed it and threw it against the wall of a corner, bursting into a thousand pieces, while Lehzen and the Duchess shrank in fear and covered themselves with their hands.  
"Drina... you've gone crazy!" exclaimed the Duchess, shocked and nervous.  
"You two are disloyal witches!" exclaimed Victoria, addressing her mother and Lehzen.  
"Dri... Your Majesty!" exclaimed Lehzen scandalized.  
"Drina... how dare you talk to me like that!" replied the Duchess furiously.  
"You are witches... liars and deceitful!... I do not want to see them at this moment!" Victoria shouted furiously.  
"I will not tolerate this!" replied the Duchess furiously and turned to leave.  
"I do not deserve this, Your Majesty! " replied Lehzen in pain, and left as well.  
Skerrett was going to leave, but to her surprise, Victoria grabbed her hand.  
"You do not!... Please do not go!" cried Victoria, weeping.  
Skerrett looked astonished at Victoria, who was crying and pouting like a little girl.  
"They want to take him away from me, Skerrett! Those bad women want to take him away from me! They want to take away to Lord Melbourne! " Victoria said between sobs and surprisingly embraced Skerrett.  
After her initial surprise and discomfort, Miss Skerrett, touched, began stroking Victoria's back shyly.  
"Do not worry Your Majesty... Lord Melbourne loves you and no one will be able to separate them both," Skerrett said in an affectionate, sweet tone.  
Meanwhile Lord Melbourne, who had just arrived at the Palace, found himself in a corridor with Victoria's mother, and was about to greet her, but then he saw that the Duchess was crying and very upset.   
"That girl is possessed by a demon!... I'm going to Coburg!... never no one had disrespectful me that way!... Now I feel compassion for you Lord Melbourne!" exclaimed the Duchess, heavily altered, and then departed without saying goodbye to Lord Melbourne.  
Lord Melbourne was baffled, and then he saw Baroness Lehzen approaching, who was also crying.  
"I do not deserve such ingratitude, Lord Melbourne!... She have treated me cruelly! I hope you can impose her some common sense! " Lehzen said through sobs and left before Lord Melbourne could speak to her.  
"What the hell is going on here!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne bewildered and worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 11: A Sad Farewell and Crucial Moves.  
> This analysis I published it in response to an interesting and reasonable commentary by Amélie in the previous chapter. It express my opinion and feelings about the evolution of Vicbourne on the show: “My dear Amélie, here is my answer to your comment. I totally agree with each and every one of your words. As you say Vicbourne became a blessing and at the same time a curse for the show... a blessing because no one can deny that if the series "Victoria" was a big hit in the first season was almost exclusively thanks to Vicbourne. I think that Vicbourne was an excellent love story, as it would be a good adaptation to the television of a classic of the romantic fiction, like "Pride and Prejudice" or "Jane Eyre", but with the advantage of being new and unpublished. However, it became a curse for the show because it was supposed to be replaced by Vicbert... to put it mildly, Vicbert is as boring as an extended class of nuclear physics dictated in Chinese language (needless to say, I hatred nuclear physics, and that I do not understand nothing in Chinese language). It's probably the worst romantic couple and the worst love story I've ever seen on television in my life. As you say a great part of the success of Vicbourne was due to the charismatic personage of Lord Melbourne, and that was product of the writing of Daisy but mainly of the wonderful work of that excellent actor that is Rufus Sewell. On the contrary, Albert's character in the show is one of the worst characters I've seen on television in my life, and it only produces in me two feelings: boredom and disgust. The reasons for the failure of Albert's character can be sought in writing and direction, but also in the work of the actor (honestly I do not like Tom Hughes as an actor) and certainly in comparison with that 'monster' that is Lord Melbourne. Honestly for me to see the last three episodes of the first season (already without Lord M) was almost a torture.  
> In that context it is perfectly understood that as you say the show had problems to retain an important part of the audience. The audience data you mention is very significant, especially since in the second season trailers they deliberately, left out Lord Melbourne and focused on Vicbert perhaps in an attempt to make the audience oblivious to Vicbourne. But judging from those first-episode audience data, the result was disastrous. Then as you say they had to resort again to the shadow of Vicbourne, exploiting the reappearance of Lord M. But again as you say backfired, because the return was disappointing... in my opinion by the ephemeral of this reappearance, just two episodes (for what they even had to falsify the History) and by the content, since the romantic attraction and the unresolved sexual tension disappeared, and Lord M was degraded to the paper of 'father figure' (in words of Jenna Coleman) and worse, to advise and console Victoria because of the jealousy she feels about Albert with another woman. In my opinion the show tried to hook up the most die-hard fans of Vicbourne, but at the same time tried to assassinate Vicbourne thinking that it was the best way to benefit Vicbert. It is very interesting but not surprising what you say, that critics consider that the quality of the show has deteriorated a lot and even call it a "soap opera". I totally agree with that opinion... I think from the beginning the show was not a biopic of Queen Victoria, but at least at the Vicbourne stage it was a rather serious fictional romantic drama. But from the middle of the first season was gradually becoming an increasingly superficial and cheesy melodrama, which is the perfect definition of soap opera. And from what I know in season two they have gone too far in that direction, with ridiculous and frivolous plots. I think the show has also been harmed by that effort to imitate "Downton Abbey", because Downton is unique and unrepeatable, that formula of masters and servants is not always going to work, and because generally the copy is never as good as the original. I think playing to ambiguity with Lord Melbourne's character to try to keep the audience hooked is unfair and ungrateful to fans, and I do not think it's effective.”


	11. A Sad Farewell and Crucial Moves.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Melbourne must appease Victoria's jealousy and show her, his love. Meanwhile are crucial moments for the wedding project between both, and a sad farewell to a sweet relationship becomes inevitable.

Lord Melbourne made a quick step to the room where Victoria was, and when he came in he saw Victoria weeping in the arms of her personal maid.  
"What is it, Victoria?" asked Lord Melbourne, bewildered and worried.  
Both Skerrett and Victoria were startled when they heard him, and Miss Skerrett hastened to ask Victoria for permission to retire, and when Victoria barely nodded, Skerrett left the room, closing the door to give Victoria and Lord Melbourne privacy.  
"Lord M ... why did not you tell me!" Victoria said weeping and pouting.  
"Tell you what, Victoria?" asked Lord Melbourne distressed.  
"The horrible women who harass you!" cried Victoria, raising her voice.  
Lord Melbourne was speechless, and even more confused.  
"Why did not you tell me that shameless women approach you on the street in an indecent way!... Why do I find out for other people! " Victoria said excitedly and nervously, still crying.  
"Victoria, it's all just nonsense of foolish and frivolous women... It's not something so it's worth wasting your time," Lord Melbourne replied, a little nervous but trying to ease his tension and sketch out a friendly smile.  
"No ... Lord M! For me it is quite serious ... for me it is humiliating and very mortifying ... And what about your underpants that one of your maids sold! ... And the drawers sent you these indecent women!" cried Victoria, furious and hurt.  
Lord Melbourne was shocked, then he felt like laughing, but seeing the expression of rage and anguish on Victoria's face, he thought it was a bad idea, and tried hard to make a pitiful and serious gesture on his face.   
"Victoria ... you know what people are like ... a disloyal maid wanted to take advantage of the situation to earn money, but my butler acted quickly and efficiently and fired her. He also fired the other employee who sold that information to the tabloids ... it's all the fault of that stupid and ridiculous chronicle of that foolish journalist. I am the one who feels the most uncomfortable and annoyed with this situation ... you know me Victoria, and you know that I am not a vain and ridiculously frivolous man ... I am a man who only wanted to have peace and tranquility, but this is our life Victoria, and is the price we have to pay for it ... Please Victoria, do not be tormented by that," said Lord Melbourne reassuringly.  
"How can I not torment myself, Lord M!... How can I do it if all the women of England desire you and love you for them!" said Victoria pouting like a little girl.  
Lord Melbourne could not help but smile, and at heart he was amused and moved by Victoria's anguish ... and he was also a little satisfied, seeing that she was jealous for him.  
"Victoria, come here, sit with me, please," said Lord Melbourne, pointing to a sofa.  
Victoria came over and sat down on the couch, and he sat down beside her.  
"Victoria, none of those women interest me ... I'm not interested them because the only woman I care about is sitting next to me," said Lord Melbourne, taking Victoria's hands and squeezing them between his.  
"Lord M ..." Victoria replied with excitement and her eyes still filled with tears.  
"Do you remember that occasion when you were tormented and depressed by your error with Lady Flora Hastings and the consequences of that? You did not feel the mood to continue and I sat next to you, and I tried to comfort you and give you courage to resume your duties ... I told you about my son, how I had lost the will to live after his death and how you you had returned me that desire to live ... But at that time I would have wanted to do something that I could not do out of respect, because you were the Queen and I your subject ... but now that I am your fiancé, I think I can take that liberty," said Lord Melbourne very friendly and with a sweet smile.  
Victoria was thrilled, and her heart quickened because she thought he was going to kiss her on the lips. Lord Melbourne put his arm around her back and drew his body close to Victoria, and she closed her eyes waiting for a kiss. But what Lord Melbourne did was draw her to him and make her rest her head on his chest. He put one of his big hands on Victoria's head and stroked her, as he pressed her head to his chest. Victoria could hear his heartbeat.   
"When I was a little boy and was very distressed for any reason, my mother took me and made me lay my head on her chest ... she told me that as a little girl she watched as the animals comforted each other by lying down on top of their fellows ... She saw it in cats and dogs, and horses. Then my mother said that we humans have a lot to learn from animals ... and that there was nothing better for a tormented soul than to lay your head on the chest of someone who loves you and then lull you the beats of its heart and the rhythm of its breath, while you breathe yourself ... Breathe Victoria ... breathe ... serene your soul, serene your heart," said Lord Melbourne in affectionate tone, while caressing her head over her hair.  
Victoria closed her eyes again and wept silently.  
"Victoria, my love, you must calm down ... in your situation you do not need so much tension ... just rest in my chest and allow my heart lull you ... That's my love, that's it ..." whispered Lord Melbourne in a soothing and affectionate voice, and then kissed Victoria's head over her hair.  
Victoria let the breathing and heartbeats of Lord Melbourne soothe her, like a lullaby. The movement of Lord Melbourne's breast also contributed to plunging her into a state of relaxation and even drowsiness. After a few minutes, Victoria was quiet.   
"Are you calm, Victoria?" Lord Melbourne asked quietly.  
"Yes, thank you, Lord M," Victoria said, pulling her head away to meet his eyes. "You always have the right way to calm me down."  
"Victoria, you must be calm ... I am very concerned about your peace and well-being. Especially now ..." said Lord Melbourne and then he put his hand on Victoria's belly and caressed it, surprising Victoria and making her smile with timidity, "the nerves are not good in your current situation ... In any case, you should not worry about nonsense, you are a Queen, and you must accept that people will do stupid things often that may dislike you, but you must be above that. And you must know that I will never do anything to hurt or embarrass you deliberately," he added.  
"I know, William, but ... I can not help feeling angry when these women send you their drawers or buy your used underpants ... I know I'm a fool, but I'm mortified." Victoria blushed and with some sadness.  
Lord Melbourne saw her so desolate and he was so moved by her insecurity ... and deep down he felt so satisfied because she jealous him of other women, that he could not help it ... He took Victoria's face in his hands and came and he kissed her lips. It was a sweet kiss but with a certain passion, rubbing his lips over hers, prolonging the kiss for a couple of minutes. When Lord Melbourne broke the kiss and pulled away, he saw the amused gesture on Victoria's face, with her eyes closed, then saw her open her eyes and sketch out a sweet, cheerful smile.   
"Do you see Victoria?... You have nothing to worry about, because all those women must be envious of you, you have the 'god' of the chronicle for yourself," said Lord Melbourne mockingly.  
They both laughed.  
"Besides Victoria, you have to see the good side of things... If at any time Her Majesty's Treasury is in crisis, we can solve it by selling Her Majesty's Consort's underpants," Lord Melbourne joked.  
"Fool!" Victoria replied giving him a soft punch in the chest, while she laughed, "The next woman buy your underpants or send you her drawers I will send her to the Tower of London! " she added mockingly.  
"You must send all the women of England to jail!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne mockingly.  
"Good thing you're not vain, Lord Melbourne! " Victoria replied laughing, with sarcasm.  
Lord Melbourne laughed, and after laughing for a while, Victoria stared at him with a sweet expression.  
"How long have we not laughed like this, Lord M?" Victoria asked with some emotion.  
"A lot, unfortunately ... I missed you too, Victoria," Lord Melbourne said with sincerity and a certain sadness.  
"You never talk about your mother ... today you did, and I was touched," Victoria said softly.   
"Yes, I know ... is that the memory of my mother I treasure it inside my heart and it is something very intimate for me ... I do not usually speak of her with almost nobody, except with the few people who are close to me and who knew her and I know they loved her too, like my friend Lord George ... But I want to share my memories of her with you, from now on ... I want you to know her through me." Lord Melbourne responded with emotion.  
"I'd love to meet my mother-in-law through you, William," Victoria said charmingly, squeezing her hand.  
"Speaking of mothers ... I think 'your two mothers' are offended," Lord Melbourne commented with a wry, amused smile.  
"Yes, I know ... I really disrespected my mother and Lehzen," Victoria admitted like a child who grudgingly acknowledges that she has done something wrong and must apologize for it. "Now I will have to beg for the forgiveness of those two stiff and hard Teutonic ladies.  
Some time later Victoria, Lord Melbourne, the Duchess, Lehzen, Emma and Harriet had lunch together in the Palace.  
"I've never been so pleased with your presence, Lord Melbourne ... you have a gift to appease even the most ferocious monster," the Duchess remarked wryly.  
"Mama, I already asked your pardon ... I begged for your forgiveness and for Lehzen's, and I promised that I would not do it again ... I need not be that reminded of my fault," Victoria told her annoyed mother.  
"Do not worry, Drina... In any case soon I hope we have Lord Melbourne living with us so that he can calm you down ... Have dinner with us tonight, Lord Melbourne?" asked the Duchess kindly.  
"I'm afraid I can not do it, Your Highness," said Lord Melbourne kindly.  
"Why not?" Victoria asked, surprised and disappointed.  
"It's just that my friend, Lord George, has organized a meeting tonight at his house ... a meeting with Tories members of Parliament, some of whom have opposed our wedding. He wants me to meet with them, and they listen to me... He thinks this meeting can be very important to speed up the process and advance our wedding," Lord Melbourne said.  
"And you think it's possible?" Victoria asked excitedly, her eyes bright.   
"Maybe ... I do not want to be optimistic or pessimistic, I prefer to be realistic. Some of them are very obsessed in their opposition to our wedding, although I am also hopeful, for the favorable change in public opinion. George was right, most people are leaning in favor of our wedding and the criticism of the press is dwindling, and support is growing. Many of the opposing, members of Parliament are reconsidering their position because of the pressure of their constituents ... I hope George is right and my direct dialogue with the most reluctant can dispel his fears and objections. I hope everything goes well tonight," said Lord Melbourne wisely.  
Later, Victoria was saying goodbye to Lord Melbourne.  
"I wish you well, William," Victoria said sweetly and enthusiastically.  
"I'm going to need it, Victoria. Tonight, being surrounded by Tories, I'm going to feel like Julius Caesar on the Ides of March," Lord Melbourne said mockingly.  
"I do not think the Tories are so bloody, Lord M," Victoria replied with a smile.  
"I would not trust, ma'am," Lord Melbourne said with a wry smile, then lifted Victoria's chin with his fingers in a loving gesture. "And remember Victoria, you must not be distressed by anything, and you must trust that I will do whatever is necessary for you to be happy and calm," he added, then lowered his head and kissed her sweetly on the lips.  
"I know, Lord M ... I'm looking forward to the day when I'm your wife," Victoria said with bright eyes.  
"Me too, Victoria... me, too," Lord Melbourne answered affectionately.   
That night George was talking to his Tories guests at his house, waiting for the arrival of Lord Melbourne, and at one point he went into a corner with a young member of Parliament, whose name was Benjamin Disraeli ...  
"I'm sure that when you know Lord Melbourne better, you will realize that there is no better Consort for our Queen," George said, continuing a conversation that had already spread for several minutes.  
"I understand that is your opinion, Lord George, because you are a good friend of Lord Melbourne, and your defense of him honors you. And do not think that I despise your arguments, them are very legitimate and convincing. But you will also understand my arguments to oppose that marriage and to refuse to support the legal changes necessary to facilitate it. I do not think it would be beneficial for the country that our Queen marry a former Prime Minister who comes from the ranks of a political party, putting at risk the image of neutrality of the Crown in the country's politics," Disraeli said.  
"Well, you know that I am Torie, and though William has been Whig, I think above all else he is a patriot who has always advised the Queen to be impartial between the political parties. In any case I expect you to check it in person ... because I consider you a very intelligent and reasonable man of state. So much so that I'm considering making an economic donation to your election campaign for the next General Election," George replied with a smile.   
"I do not want to offend you with what I'm going to say ... but I want to think that your donation is not a way to buy my vote to support the wedding in Parliament," Disraeli said with a smile that was meant to be kind but was rather sarcastic.  
"I would never think that you are a man to be bought with money, Mr Disraeli, I consider you a man of principle," George replied with a sarcastic and cunning smile.  
At that moment George's butler announced the arrival of Lord Melbourne. The evening, was spent in a relaxed mood, in which Lord Melbourne with charm, cunning, and patience faced the doubts and criticisms of the Tories attending the meeting, and managed to cordialise them. Lord Melbourne responded to Disraeli's frequent interventions, and despite the petulance of the young Conservative politician and his critical stance, Lord Melbourne never lost his kindness to him and intelligently managed to refute his objections without clearly confronting him. At the end of the evening, Lord Melbourne and Disraeli were face to face, at the time of farewell.   
"Mr Disraeli, I am only a man who wishes to serve his Queen, who by the whim of fate is also the woman I love ... I have no other aspirations in life to live to support her, always in the background, always understanding that the Queen is she and she is the one who must reign ... in a way, you could say that I am like one of the characters of your romantic novels, for example, your novel "Henrietta Temple" ..." said Lord Melbourne.  
"Have you read my novel "Henrietta Temple"? " Disraeli asked surprised and a little skeptical.  
"Of course ... and in a way, I identify with Ferdinand Armine a little. The relationship between the Queen and me must face an opposition a little like the one that had to face the relationship of Ferdinand and Henrietta. It is assumed that Ferdinand and Henrietta were not destined for each other, and that for the welfare of both and their respective families they should never marry. But you arranged things brilliantly so that both of them had a happy ending," Lord Melbourne replied with apparent enthusiasm.  
"Well ... I must confess that I am a little flattered, Lord Melbourne! I never thought you would be among the admirers of my literary work," Disraeli replied truthfully.   
"It's a good book, Mr. Disraeli ... do you want to hear why I love the woman and I adore the Queen?" said Lord Melbourne and seeing that Disraeli nodded, continued "Because her embodies the greatness of our great nation and the British people ... she has the courage, the passion, the ambition, the greatness and the dignity of our people, its ability to dream and its vision of the future, the qualities that have made our country the most powerful and prosperous on Earth, and the metropolis of the greatest Empire in history ... she has our qualities multiplied by a thousand ... and she also has our defects, because in order to be the perfect incarnation of our national soul it have also to incarnate our defects ... But she has the will to overcome her defects and to fulfill her duty with devotion. I am convinced that she is the best Monarch we could have in these difficult times ... because she will hold us together in the face of adversity, she will give us the courage to fight for a future full of glory, she will keep alive the flame of hope in one life better for all, and she will make us continue safe from Revolutions, Anarchy and Tyranny ... The continent is covered with disorders and it will not be many years before the Revolutions bathing with blood to Europe once again ... and in large part because the European Monarchies are incapable of renewal and most European Monarchs do not realize that we no longer live in the time before the French Revolution, when the people lived to serve their Monarchs ... now Monarchs are the who must live to serve their people if they do want to survive. It is something that the King of Hanover, the ineffable Duke of Cumberland, does not understand, for example, but Queen Victoria perfectly understands and preaches by example. The greatest success of my life is to have guided the Queen so that she would find her own way and discover the purpose of her mission in life. I am proud of the Queen in which she has become and believe me that the last thing I want is to ruin her success, because her failure would also be my failure ... I just want to live to give her the domestic happiness and stability she deserves, to build a family together and serve as an example to all the families of the country ... I do not want or accept another prerogative or privilege other than those of a husband with respect to his wife ... even less than that, since as husband of the Queen I must accept that she will be the real head of the family and not me ... But like Ferdinand, I will feel happy to live next to my Henrietta," said Lord Melbourne with sincerity and conviction.   
"You are very passionate and convincing, Lord Melbourne ... now I understand your speech before the Privy Council. But you must admit that it is legitimate to feel misgivings when you are a politician, and also a Whig politician, which for me as a Torie is not very encouraging," Disraeli replied sincerely but kindly.  
"I was a politician, it is true, Mr. Disraeli, and I have also been Whig ... but that can be an advantage. I am an English politician, an English aristocrat ... but I am not of Royalty, I am a 'simple' Viscount. That implies that I do not have the backing of a royal dynasty, not even a small... or a foreign nation ... my only endorsement is the Queen, who is no small thing, but thanks to our sacred Constitution she has in front the barriers of Government, Parliament, justice and public opinion ... of a free people. No, Mr Disraeli, I am no problem to anyone. It would be far worse for the Queen to marry a foreign prince which would engage England in uncomfortable and disadvantageous alliances with kingdoms or principalities of the continent, who demand our support and our money for little or nothing," replied Lord Melbourne.   
"You are very good at arguing, Lord Melbourne. No wonder you has become Prime Minister ..." Disraeli answered truthfully but with a touch of humor.  
"As I am sure you will become," said Lord Melbourne.  
"Do you think I'll be Prime Minister?" Disraeli asked in amazement.  
"I have followed your career, Mr. Disraeli, and I am sure you will be Prime Minister. Within 5, 10 or 15 years ... I do not know when it will happen, but I'm sure it will happen. Perhaps, I will not be among the living by then, I do not know ... but I hope that the Queen Victoria will continue as Queen by then. And if you allow me to give you an advice Mr. Disraeli ... although it is true that according to our Constitution it is not necessary for a Prime Minister to have the support of the Monarch, and that a Monarch does not need the sympathy of its Prime Minister, the best for both and for the whole country is that both have a good relationship ... And Queen Victoria never forgets the favors, she is very grateful and gives her unconditional friendship to those who help her at crucial times, and her friendship is very valuable to a Prime Minister ... she really has a good memory, for good and for bad," Lord Melbourne answered with a meaningful look.  
"I think I understand you, Lord Melbourne," Disraeli replied with another meaningful look.  
Saying goodbye to George and Lord Melbourne, Disraeli saw both intensely.  
"Thank you for the evening, gentlemen ... you two have given me much to think about," said Disraeli.  
After he left, Lord Melbourne and George spoke among them.   
"Thank you for telling me that summary of the novel," said Lord Melbourne.  
"Thank Eleanor, she was the one who read it and summarized it to me," George replied.  
The next day Lord Melbourne came to say goodbye to Catherine in the house he had rented for her.  
"Thank you, Lord Melbourne ... for everything," Catherine said, tears streaming down her cheeks.  
"It's the least I can do for you ... you've been a great friend to me. You will never have to sell your body again. I will help you so that you can educate yourself to have a good job ... or I will finance you so that you can have your own business, a good legal business ... maybe a ladies' clothing store, or whatever you prefer. The truth is that I will make sure that your son and you have the life, you two deserve," said Lord Melbourne affectionate and kind.  
"Thank you Lord Melbourne ... thank you!" cried Catherine as she approached him, hugged him and kissed him on the lips.  
"Catherine ... we can not ..." said Lord Melbourne slowly parted his lips as he stroked her face. "We must be friends ... good friends, but not lovers."   
"Lord Melbourne ... you would not be the first married man to have a mistress," Catherine said anxiously, almost like a desperate plea.  
"Catherine, I want to be a faithful husband to my wife in every way ... After I marry, I will not have any woman who is not my wife ... I do it for her, for Victoria, but also for myself, and for duty. I will never commit adultery, it is a firm decision ... But you do not deserve it too, Catherine ... you deserve something much better than being the mistress of a married man ... you deserve to have a man who loves you, to consecrate himself exclusively to you, You deserve to be a wife and not a mistress," said Lord Melbourne tenderly.  
"What man could marry me? A stained woman, indecent, dirty ..." Catherine replied in pain.   
"Do not say that! You are much purer and more decent than many women of the aristocracy I have known ... You did not prostitutes yourself, for pleasure or choice, you did it out of necessity. On the contrary, there are many women who presume to be decent are terribly immoral, with even depraved behavior ... You have the right to love and you have the right to be loved as any woman, you will surely find a man who makes you happy and loves you without terms. If I had known you in another life, in other circumstances, I could have been happy with you and I would not have cared for your past ... but for better or for worse, my heart belongs to her, she deserves it or not, and there is nothing that I can do against that," said Lord Melbourne with a mixture of sadness and compassion.  
"I understand ... it's the story of my life, whenever I find a good man, his heart has a owner ... But your fidelity to her honors you ... But I beg you to make me happy one last time ... I beg you to make love to me last time before your wedding," pleaded Catherine.  
"No, Catherine, we must not ..." said Lord Melbourne somewhat distressed.  
"Please Lord Melbourne! You has not yet married, you still does not owe allegiance her ... please give me that last satisfaction, that last goodbye, before giving up your body and your caresses forever."  
Lord Melbourne saw the pain in Catherine's face, the pain of a broken heart... a pain he had suffered many times in his life. And he did not have the courage to refuse ...  
They went up to the bedroom and helped each other to remove their clothes, very slowly. When they were all naked, they lay on the bed, and Lord Melbourne kissed and stroked her whole body, and stimulated her with his mouth and his hands ... When he penetrated her, she clung to him trembling and gave him a deep kiss on the lips. Unlike their first intimate encounter, this time they made love slowly and softly, with tenderness but without leaving the passion ... When they reached the climax, Catherine wept in his arms and he comforted her with tender caresses and kisses ...  
But time went on, and a pair of days later a decisive vote was held in the House of Commons of Parliament. George watched from the gallery anxiously as the Speaker of the House granted Disraeli the right of speech in the pre-ballot debate.   
"Gentlemen ... I have meditated a great deal these days on the question of our Queen's planned wedding with Lord Melbourne ... and I have contrasted my initial convictions on the subject with the facts, and the reflections of people whose opinion deserves all my respect ... I have carefully weighed the points for and against this marriage link, and I must admit that my initial prejudices have been strongly shaken. That is why gentlemen, I have decided that the best thing for the well-being of this country and our beloved Queen ... is to unconditionally support her marriage with the distinguished Lord Melbourne," Disraeli said in a loud and clear voice, solemnly.  
"Yes!" George exclaimed excitedly, causing some spectators at his side to turn to him with reproach, and he apologized for his breach of protocol and good manners.   
There was a great scandal in the House when one of the most critical voices with the wedding changed sides ... there was applause from Whigs and Tories who already supported the marriage, and some boos and angry voices among those who still opposed (basically a minority but significant part of the Tories and very few whigs). There was bewilderment in others, who now doubted their initial opposition. When the crucial vote came, a sweeping majority of Tories and Whigs approved all the necessary points for the wedding to take place.  
George came out of Parliament almost mad and rode on his horse as fast as he could to get to Dover House, and when he arrived he dismounted so abruptly that he almost fell to the ground, and then dashed to the mansion. He found Lord Melbourne in the library, and upon seeing him Lord Melbourne blanched expecting terrible news. But George gave a huge smile and opened his arms ...  
"We did it! ... A crushing majority of the two parties approved all the points ... you can marry the Queen!" cried George.   
Lord Melbourne was astonished, then he smiled and his eyes filled with tears, and he stepped forward to shake hands with George, but in the end both ended up hugging each other like brothers, excited.  
Meanwhile at Buckingham Palace, Victoria waited tense and resigned, because Prime Minister Peel had warned her that it was most likely that the vote would be held the next day by the tenacious opposition and the delaying tactics of the critics with the wedding. She walked with Lehzen, Emma and Harriet for a room, in the direction of another when a servant announced the arrival of Peel.  
The Prime Minister knelt and kissed Victoria's hand (without the grace of Lord Melbourne) and then stood up.  
"Ma'am, I bring you some very important news that you must know immediately," Robert Peel said earnestly.   
Victoria feared the worst and her face went pale, and she felt a little dizziness, but Emma and Lehzen hurried to take her, one of each arm.  
"Are you all right, ma'am? If you want we can ..." said Peel worried.  
"No, I'm fine ... please, Sir Robert, do not make me wait any longer ... Tell me what you should tell me, whatever," Victoria said anxiously.  
"Ma'am, it is my duty to inform you ... that the House has voted and by a large majority ... has approved each and every one of the points. Ma'am, you can get married when you wish with Lord Melbourne," Peel replied solemnly, smiling at the end.   
Victoria opened her eyes, her face covered with surprise ... and then she began to cry in a nervous way, almost hysterical, as a relief to so many days of uncertainty and fear. Her tears shocked them all, including Peel who felt uncomfortable but also tender ... without being able to avoid it, Victoria took Lehzen's hand and drew the woman she saw as her true mother. And then she embraced the Baroness, while she wept compulsively, and the Baroness stroked her back, forgetting the others present, and thinking only of protecting her 'little' girl ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 12: Nerves, Annoying Thoughts and Hasty Arrangements.


	12. Nerves, Annoying Thoughts and Hasty Arrangements.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cleared political and legal obstacles, Victoria and Lord Melbourne try to accelerate their wedding. But the uncertainty, the anguish and the doubts continue to disturb the couple on the threshold of their wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updating, but as you know I have several fanfics in development, and also a complex real life. I hope you all enjoy it and your comments as always will be very appreciated.

Lord Melbourne arrived at Buckingham Palace shortly after Peel gave her the news of the result of the parliamentary vote to Victoria. He came riding in a hurry on his steed and dismounted with energy and elegance.  
Lord Melbourne waited in a room for Victoria, nervous. It was not long before she came to meet him and almost running she threw herself into his arms, and Lord Melbourne hugged her tightly. After a few minutes they both parted a little, but still hugging and Lord Melbourne saw her directly in the eyes.  
"You see, Victoria! I told you that you should be calm and patient ... Fortunately there has been a favorable outcome, and we can breathe easier ... I confess that at the beginning of all this I doubted our chances, even though your uncle Leopold was very clever, securing the support of the Conservative Party with his agreement with Peel and Wellington. But naturally we had strong opposition, but we have bowed down it ... and it has been largely thanks to the efforts of my friend George, we owe him a lot of, Victoria," said Lord Melbourne.   
Then Victoria and Lord Melbourne talked for a few minutes about the role played by Lord George in the triumph of the efforts to obtain the approval of public opinion and Parliament.  
"Really Lord George is a noble and loyal friend ... I would like to do something to thank him for his generosity with us," said Victoria.  
"Your friendship is enough for him ... although his daughter is another story ... that little girl adores you, considers you a kind of idol, as if you were a princess of fairy tales. She adores you with an almost religious devotion, to the point that she collects all the things that have to do with you. I'm sure if she knows you in person, the poor girl would faint with emotion," replied Lord Melbourne.  
"Really! I never imagined that a little girl would feel that, for me," Victoria said surprised.  
"I think it's not the only one ... I'm sure there are many girls in the country who feel the same. After all you are the first Queen so young and beautiful that we have had, at least in many generations ... It is normal that your image awakens the fantasies and admiration of the girls of the country who would like to be you, to be in your place ... " Lord Melbourne said smiling.  
"I am moved to know it ... " Victoria replied with a sweet smile, "I want to meet the girl! But does the girl live with George or with her mother in Ireland? " Victoria asked curiously, thinking that the girl was the daughter of George's legitimate wife who lived separated from him in Ireland.  
Lord Melbourne put a gesture of embarrassment on his face.   
"It's just that ... she is not the daughter of Lord George's wife ... she is the daughter of George's current 'companion' " answered Lord Melbourne with some discomfort.  
Victoria was a little surprised.  
"So the child is the daughter of Lord George's mistress? " Victoria asked.  
"I think that for George she is more than a mistress, in fact I think he would resent it qualifying her with that term ... For him in practice she is his real wife, and I am sure that if he could marry her, he would ... You should know that life is very complicated, Victoria and nobody, absolutely nobody is morally perfect, nobody has an irreproachable behavior ... you know it Victoria, because neither you nor I are it," said Lord Melbourne, a little serious.  
Victoria was a little embarrassed, aware that Lord Melbourne was saying it in large part because her would marrying him while she was pregnant with another man, with whom she lost her virginity as a single young woman.   
"It is not my intention to judge Lord George and the people he loves ... of course I could not be ungrateful with a good friend of yours whom I owe so much ... And of course I still want to meet the girl, I am moved by her devotion," Victoria replied honestly.  
"I'm glad to hear it, Victoria, it's a gesture that honors you ... but now we must focus on your situation ..." Lord Melbourne replied and then he saw to sides, as if he were making sure they were alone and lowered his voice to continue, "Victoria, we must hurry things, because the physical signs of your condition could begin to be noticed," he added uncomfortably.  
Victoria opened her eyes in amazement and saw to Lord Melbourne looking at her belly, so Victoria looked down to see her own belly, which it was certainly seem a little more bulky.  
"God, do you think it is already noticeable on me!" Victoria exclaimed nervously in a low voice.  
"No, you must not worry ... but we must rush the court bureaucrats and all those involved ... Now that we can legally move forward, we should not waste a minute," replied Lord Melbourne, trying to reassure her.   
The following days were frantic with pressure from Victoria to accelerate the gears of the Crown bureaucracy and discussions with the officials involved. Preparations were made at the fastest possible speed, and Prime Minister Peel did everything possible to help Victoria achieve her goal of hastening the wedding. The date of the wedding was set for just over two weeks after Parliament's approval of the legal changes and agreements on the status of future Consort of the Queen.  
Although some members of Parliament close to the sinister Duke of Cumberland came to propose a morganatic marriage (whose main consequence would have been to deprive the children of marriage of the right to succession to the Crown of their mother), the strong opposition of Victoria and the Peel ministry (with the backing of most of the press and public opinion) frustrated the maneuver of Victoria's enemies.   
The legislative changes guaranteed the succession for the children of the marriage of a Monarch with at least one member of the Nobility (and not necessarily of the Royalty). Anyway, the title of William Lamb was elevated from Viscount Melbourne to Duke of Melbourne, a modification of the title of the head of the Lamb family that became effective one week before the wedding.  
The constant and strenuous activity kept Victoria and Lord Melbourne busy. Just over a week before the wedding, Victoria was undergoing a test with the wedding dress. It was a white satin dress, made of fabric woven in Spitalfields, adorned with a deep flounce and trimmings of lace hand-made in Honiton and Beer, in Devon. Hand-made lace motifs were applied it on a machine-made cotton net. The dress had a train of 18 feet (5.5 m) long.  
After the costume designers and dressers performed the test, they left and left Victoria alone with her mother, Baroness Lehzen and Miss Skerrett (who was to help Victoria undress). The women talked about the test.   
"This is a problem ... I think it noticeable on her, the stomach a little bulky," said the Duchess between irritated and worried.  
Victoria made a gesture of fear and deep concern on her face.  
"Your Highness, I do not think that's the case ... it shows very little, almost nothing," replied Baroness Lehzen, trying to reassure Victoria and making an effort to hide her anger with the Duchess for anguishing Victoria.  
"What do you think, Skerrett? " Victoria asked anxiously addressing her maid.  
"Your Majesty, I think your belly has bulged very little, and with the last adjustments that were made to the dress, I think that in the worst case it will notice very little, almost nothing ... And during the ceremony most of attendees will not have a very close vision of you so that they can realize, and even less the crowd that will be outside ... I think you should not worry, ma'am," Skerrett replied speaking cautiously and with a certain shyness.  
"In any case, I hope the child is born late, so as not to incite inconvenient and dangerous rumors," said the Duchess with a sigh, in a pessimistic way, causing Victoria to return to show anguish and Lehzen saw the Duchess with gesture of anger for anguishing Victoria.   
The women continued to discuss the technical details of the wedding and the dress. Later, Victoria was alone with Skerrett, the Queen dressed in her sleepwear.  
"Skerrett, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about, about my wardrobe on the day of the wedding ... It's about my nightgown for the wedding night," Victoria said shyly and while she blushed.  
"Of course ... tell me what you want, Majesty," replied Skerrett with a certain embarrassment.  
"Skerrett, you know my intimacy, even my biggest secret ... that's why I can trust you ... I've talked about this with my mother, but I'd like to talk to someone who is almost as young as me," said Victoria.  
Victoria told Skerrett about her conversation with her mother about her intimacy with Lord Melbourne when they would were both married. Skerrett listened to her with attention and understanding, empathizing with Victoria's nerves and insecurity.  
"Your Majesty, I believe that the advice of Your Highness, your mother, is very good ... I believe that your married life with Lord Melbourne will be very happy, and you should trust Lord Melbourne's love for you ... But, Your Highness also has reason when she says that you must be patient and understanding with him ... Maybe at the beginning Lord Melbourne could avoid the ... physical contact ... but in that case you should not be discouraged thus. It would be natural in your current condition ... it could even be a kind and considerate gesture on the part of Lord Melbourne," Skerrett said prudently.   
"Yes, I understand," Victoria replied with some discouragement.  
"But it is not necessarily what has to happen, the opposite could also happen ..." Skerrett replied trying to encourage the Queen, "That is why, we will find the appropriate nightgown for that night, a beautiful and suggestive nightgown ... which can incite Lord Melbourne to follow the path desired by you," Skerrett added a little embarrassed and blushing.  
Victoria smiled sweetly and a little naughty, and saw Skerrett with a look of complicity.  
"That seems very good to me, Skerrett ... thank you very much for understanding my wishes so well," answered Victoria animated.  
A couple of days later, Lord Melbourne and Lord George were talking in a drawing room in the Lord George's mansion in London, sitting in armchairs, while both leafed through the newspapers, with the news of the impending wedding. Lord Melbourne looked slightly worried and absent, while George was quite animated.  
"How does it feel to be about to become the Consort of the Queen, Duke of Melbourne! " exclaimed George mockingly.   
Lord Melbourne closed the newspaper in his hands and placed it on a table beside him, crisscrossed the fingers of both hands, letting them rest on his lap and raised his head to see the ceiling.  
"Do you remember that trip we made with your father when we were teenagers? ... The trip to Dover," said Lord Melbourne.  
"Yes, of course ... it was unforgettable. We had a great time," replied George smiling.  
"Do you remember when we stopped at that inn before we got to Dover? And while your father was meeting with that man with whom he was going to do business, we went out to wander in the vicinity of the inn ... And then we heard those two men arguing in the barn, and we started spying to see them and listen what they said in the middle of the discussion," Lord Melbourne recalled.  
"Of course ... they were two poor peasants, and one of them was crying disconsolately because he had seen the woman he was in love with another man, and his friend was trying to comfort him," said George.   
"Yes, that poor man had seen the woman he was deeply in love with, having sex with another man in the middle of the field. With the skirt up, and the man on top of her with his pants down, fornicating in the middle of the field, on the grass ... And naturally the man had a broken heart, he had gotten drunk and cried and almost shouted while his friend tried to comfort him ... But Do you remember what the poor man said that attracted to so much our attention? ... What was so rude," replied Lord Melbourne.  
"You mean…? " George began to answer.   
"He said: 'How can a man endure to see the woman he loves when another man stick his dick in her?' ... The fact of knowing with certainty that another man has stick his dick in the woman you love ... that's more or less was what the man said, and of course we has make fun and laughed later, because we were two teenagers immature and stupid, and it caused us laughter the suffering of that unfortunate ... Many things have happened since then ... many," said Lord Melbourne of reflective way.   
"William, does this have to do ...? I thought we had already overcome that facet!" George exclaimed with some despair.  
"Believe me, George, I have already understood and accepted the issue of Victoria's pregnancy ... and if there was something to forgive, I would have sincerely forgiven it ... But the fact that I have assimilated it and resigned myself to the situation, and that I have banished the rage of my heart, it does not mean that it does not continue to cause me pain ... I can not forget that Victoria gave herself to Prince Albert out of love and desire ... that she was in his arms and that she expects a child from him ... I am sure that with the passage of time I will be able to overcome it completely, it will only be a bad memory and I will do everything necessary to love that child as if it were my child, and I will strive to be a good husband, because I love her ... but I am worried about the beginning of our marriage ... The beginning of our coexistence ..." said Lord Melbourne.  
Lord Melbourne stood up and walked to a window to see outside, and then continued talking.   
"All this has been very strange and precipitate ... one day Victoria was close to marrying Albert, and the next day he was dead ... and then I was engaged in marriage with her, and now we are getting married, and everything happened from a way ... so shocking and fast ... We're going to get married, but not because we've wooed and fallen in love with each other ... not because I proposed marriage to her or she to me, for love ... but because I had to save her from the scandal, from a catastrophe ... We got married practically for duty, for obligation, not as a romantic adventure ... and if in itself that was not uncomfortable and strange enough, she carries in her belly the child of the other man, of my rival for her affections ... In this situation, I do not know what to do ... I do not know how to behave, I do not know what our coexistence will be like when the wedding ends ... that is, I do not know what to expect from those remaining months until Victoria gives birth to her child. Everything will be strange and embarrassing, including the alleged honeymoon, which will not be such," explained Lord Melbourne.  
"So ... do you discard having a 'normal' honeymoon?" asked George.   
"How could she, George! ... She's pregnant with child of another man! Obviously we can not have normal relations between newlyweds ..." Lord Melbourne answered turning to see George, "And obviously Victoria knows it, she should not have expectations of something happening," he added while he returned to see outside.  
"Are you sure, William?" asked George with doubt and some skepticism.  
"She can not think otherwise!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne surprised and defensive, while turning to see George.  
"If something has taught us life, William, it is that women are unpredictable ... I would not be so sure in your place that she wants the same as you and that she thinks the same way about you in this matter ... or in any other ... If, something it taught me my unhappy marriage is that a wife is a box of surprises not always pleasant ..." George replied with a grimace of disgust, "... what I say is that you must be prepared, maybe Victoria may have different expectations to yours," added George.   
"I really do not think so ..." Lord Melbourne answered, but there was doubt in his voice, "... she is pregnant, so ... I do not think she has those desires, especially with the discomforts that she is suffering and the anguish she has for her situation ... Besides, just a few weeks ago she was ... she was in love with Prince Albert, and she was in his arms ... I do not think she has forgotten so easily ... And she must also think that it would be strange and unpleasant, very shocking, to have intimacy with me while she is pregnant with another man ... that would be unimaginable," added Lord Melbourne still hesitant.  
"Well, if you say it ... but then, what will your marriage be like during pregnancy?" said George.   
"That is what I do not know ... well, in public we will have to pretend that we are a happy and in love couple, who are eagerly waiting for our first child ..." Lord Melbourne replied with a grimace of annoying resignation, "In private I suppose there will not be many changes. Everything will be the same as it is now, with the difference that I will live in the Palace," Lord Melbourne answered a little discouraged.  
"William, I just hope that after so much effort, so much struggle to get this marriage done, do not waste the opportunity to be happy ... you would be a fool if you did and I could not forgive you," said George serious and a little worried about he.  
"Do not worry, George ... I'm not that stupid," replied Lord Melbourne with an affectionate smile.   
The next day George's family arrived at his home in London, and Lord Melbourne came to greet his best friend's family. After greeting Eleanor affectionately, he was reunited with little Elizabeth.  
"Hello Miss Elizabeth ... did you miss your uncle William?" Lord Melbourne said smiling and affectionate, with one knee on the floor, to greet the girl.  
"I'm happy to see you, Uncle William," replied little Elizabeth with a shy smile, and always looking very polite, like a whole aristocratic young lady (and older than her age).  
"Did your father give you the good news? " Lord Melbourne asked happily and then he saw George who with a smile shook his head, "Your father will attend my wedding with Queen Victoria and you will accompany him."  
Elizabeth opened her eyes in surprise and saw her father, who nodded, and then the girl began to cry of emotion, and moving, Lord Melbourne embraced her, while he and George laughed ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 13: Wedding for Duty, Loyalty and ... Love.


	13. Wedding for Duty, Loyalty and ... Love.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding day of Lord Melbourne and Victoria has finally arrived. Will it be the desired salvation for Victoria? ... Will it be the beginning of a truly happy life for the couple?

                                                                                             

Lord Melbourne's sister, Emily, crossed in a hallway of Dover House with George and George's daughter (the little girl was holding her father's hand) and after affectionately greeting both, as if they were her brother and her niece, Emily continued on her way, while George and Elizabeth entered the room where Lord Melbourne was half dressed, in shirtsleeves. Lord Melbourne's valet came out looking for something, and they took the opportunity to talk.  
"Elizabeth, you are very beautiful ... you are going to be one of the most beautiful young-women in the ceremony," said Lord Melbourne with an affectionate smile talking to the girl.  
"Thank you Uncle William ... How are you going to go dressed?" Elizabeth asked with some shyness.  
"With the Windsor Uniform," Lord Melbourne answered with little enthusiasm.  
"Your uncle is not particularly fond of the Windsor Uniform, but your future aunt, Queen Victoria, loves that dress and considers your uncle looks very handsome with it ... and women always have one's own way, dear daughter," explained George cheerful and a little mocking.  
"Then the Uncle will look very handsome," the girl replied with enthusiasm and a smile.  
"You see, George, since childhood, women are always right and support each other ... thank you, dear Elizabeth, although I'm sure no one will notice me because all eyes will be focused on your beloved Victoria," said Lord Melbourne cheerful.  
"We already left, to occupy our seats on time. I hope that when we meet again you will be the Consort of the Queen," said George in an affectionate tone.  
"Thank you, George ... I'll see you at the reception in the Palace after the wedding. My dear Elizabeth, I am very happy that you attend my wedding with the Queen, and I hope you enjoy every minute, because it will be a unique occasion in everyone's life," said Lord Melbourne.  
"Thank you Uncle William!" exclaimed Elizabeth.  
Meanwhile, at Buckingham Palace, Queen Victoria was dressed in her wedding dress by her maids. When she finished dressing, Victoria looked at herself in the mirror and had to make an effort not to cry of emotion. Then she turned to see Baroness Lehzen.  
"What do you think? ... I look good, Lehzen? " Victoria asked with a sweet smile and because of the look on her face she looked like a girl who was looking for her mother's approval.  
"You look ... as beautiful and sweet as a real angel! " Baroness Lehzen answered and in the end her voice broke, breaking her mask of coldness, and tears welled up in her eyes.  
"Don't cry, Lehzen, because I'm going to cry too! " Victoria exclaimed as she squeezed Lehzen's hand and could not stop her own tears from spilling from her eyes.  
"I'm sorry, Majesty, it's just that ... I'm proud of you. I feel, like the day you became Queen and the day of your Coronation ... very proud of the woman and the Queen that you have become," said Lehzen with emotion and without ceasing to shed tears.  
"My dear, Lehzen! ... You are like a mother to me! " Victoria replied as she kissed Lehzen on the cheek.  
After a few moments, Victoria and Baroness Lehzen had dried their tears and they had calmed down. Victoria was already walking to the door of the room when Victoria's mother came in.  
"Oh, my God ... you look so beautiful, Drina! " exclaimed the excited Duchess and some tears sprang from her eyes.  
"Oh God, I'm going to get, crying to the ceremony! " Victoria replied crying and laughing at the same time.  
A short time later members of the Victoria family began to leave the Palace, and finally, Victoria's own cortege. Lord Melbourne was already waiting for her in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace, at the altar, dressed in his Windsor Uniform. The future husband of the Queen was quite nervous, and he had to make a great effort to control his nerves and try to appear as calm as possible. But it was a difficult task because he had many mixed feelings at that time.  
Although it would must be the happiest day of his life because he was going to marry the woman he loved, doubts about Victoria's feelings for him and the future of their marriage still darkened Lord Melbourne's heart. But whatever the outcome, it was a point of no return. He was there out of duty and loyalty, but also out of love, and Lord Melbourne had always lost the game against love, even if he had to pay a high price later.  
Although it was not hot, Lord Melbourne wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand in a disguised way, and for the umpteenth time he cursed in his mind the heavy and uncomfortable uniform. But he was aware that apart from the actual, physical or material discomfort of the uniform, it was his state of tension and nervousness about the ceremony. And then he heard the fanfares announcing the arrival of Victoria and her entourage, and Lord Melbourne's heart and breathing accelerated.  
In front was Peel in his capacity as Prime Minister holding the ceremonial state sword, and Lord Melbourne thought with irony that if Albert had not been killed it would surely be he who would be holding the sword, fulfilling the role that Robert Peel now fulfilled (and he had no problem imagining the pain he would have felt in that case). He also thought more amusingly that there could not be a less elegant and skillful bearer of the sword than the clumsy Peel, so ungallant or charming.  
But immediately his attention was focused on his future wife, on Victoria ... she looked very beautiful, charming, sweet, elegant, radiant. His heart of a man in love could not help shuddering, at her.  
Victoria was also nervous and full of mixed feelings. She was afraid that her discomforts caused by the pregnancy would affect her suddenly and her biggest fear was to vomit in front all those attending the wedding, about her beautiful dress and even at the altar itself, embarrassing Lord Melbourne. Her doctor had given her several medicines to drink the morning of that day, but even so she had had a small vomit before beginning to get dressed. However afterwards she had calmed down and made an effort to think positively, but when she reached the Chapel the nerves grew inside her and again she feared getting dizzy, vomiting or worse yet fainting, in full ceremony, which would be a real disaster.  
Besides Victoria had mixed feelings ... she had again felt the love for Lord Melbourne that she felt before the appearance of Albert in her life, but with more passion or intensity. Now Victoria was sure that she had never stopped loving him, that her love was only hidden but always latent during the time of her courtship with Albert. But at the same time she remembered Albert and then felt guilty ... guilty of having overcome his death so quickly, although it was circumstances that forced her to go so quickly to a wedding with another man.  
Victoria was not deceiving herself, and she knew that she still felt some love for Albert. But now she felt that it had been a fleeting and unreflective infatuation, an almost childlike infatuation, the product of the anxious desire of a girl who wanted to fall in love and be reciprocated, who was desperate to know the first love. A crush also favored by Victoria's broken heart, for her disappointment at her having been rejected by Lord Melbourne. But Victoria was sure that when the fire of the initial passion was extinguished she would have seen Albert in another way, and now she knew that she could only have loved him as a good friend or as a brother, but not as a man. Albert had been the whim of a girl who wanted love as a toy, but what she felt for Lord Melbourne was another story ... for Lord Melbourne she felt a more passionate love, hotter, that aroused sensations in her body, that she still did not understand all right. It was also a more complex love, one that challenged her mind, absorbed her thought and produced more intense contradictory feelings, but also brought peace, security, protection and more confidence in herself. She felt that Lord Melbourne completed her, that both were as one person divided into two bodies and two complementary souls. Now Victoria knew that Lord Melbourne was the man of her life, the man she had always loved and would always love, but that, it made her feel guilty when the child in her womb brought to mind the memory of Albert and then she imagined the ghost of him reproaching her in silence for her lack of love and her forgetfulness.  
When Victoria saw Albert's brother, Ernest, among those present, she felt a twinge of pain and remorse. But his affectionate and tender smile, a smile that seemed to want to encourage her and express affection and understanding, moved and encouraged her.  
But Victoria also felt insecure about Lord Melbourne's feelings, for he had reacted very hurt and full of anger at knowing her dishonor, but it was something Victoria understood. But she was afraid that he had not sincerely and completely forgiven her, and that his love for her had not survived the disappointment intact. She felt insecure about the way he would behave with her at the beginning of their marriage.  
A part of Victoria was very happy to marry the man she loved, but another part was sunk in uncertainty, fears and doubts. With these mixed feelings, Victoria walked to the altar down the long corridor, on the arm of one of her paternal uncles, the Duke of Sussex, and as she walked Victoria looked for her mother and Baroness Lehzen. When her eyes met each other's eyes, Victoria could not help a few tears rolling down her cheeks as she saw the love, pride and emotion in each woman's gaze.  
But Victoria's heart really accelerated a lot when she saw Lord Melbourne at the altar. Victoria thought she had never seen him as handsome in the Windsor Uniform as that day, even though she had seen him in that dress many times. And then all of Victoria's doubts and fears vanished for a moment, because she felt like the happiest woman in the world to marry the most handsome, charming, and noble man in the world in her firm conviction.  
When they reached the altar, Victoria and Lord Melbourne looked intently in the eye, and Lord Melbourne smiled warmly.  
"You are the most beautiful bride in the world, Ma'am! " Lord Melbourne whispered her, before the Archbishop of Canterbury began officiating the wedding ceremony.  
"Thank you ... you look very handsome, Lord M! " Victoria answered in a whisper.  
The Archbishop of Canterbury began to officiate at the wedding, and the attendees heard his words, and a moment later it was time for the wedding vows.  
"William, wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou comfort her, honour and ...? " the Archbishop asked Lord Melbourne.  
"I will! " Lord Melbourne answered in a firm tone, when the time came.  
"Victoria wilt thou have William to thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance, in the holy state matrimony? Wilt thou have obey and serve him ...?" the Archbishop asked Victoria.  
"I will! " Victoria answered loudly, nervous but without hesitation.  
"I pronounce that they be man and wife together. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen," proclaimed the Archbishop solemnly, declaring them husband and wife.  
Lord Melbourne gave a quick and sweet kiss on Victoria's lips, and then both smiled with a gesture of some relief. Lehzen and Victoria's mother dried their tears, while Lord Melbourne offered his arm to Victoria and when she clung to him, they both started off to get away from the altar.  
As they walked down the hall to the exit, all the attendants were watching them, including George and his daughter Elizabeth. The little girl had cried of emotion at the beginning of the ceremony, when she saw Victoria walking to the altar on her uncle's arm, since it was the first time she had seen her idol, the Queen, in person. During the ceremony the girl continued crying in silence, drying her tears with her little handkerchief, trying to maintain her composure the way she had been educated. When Victoria and Lord Melbourne walked to the exit, at the end of the ceremony, the girl could not contain the crying of emotion, while her father, George, stroked her head affectionately while he smiled.  
Outside, on the street, the crowd cheered and Victoria cried again as she waved. When they both climbed into the carriage, Lord Melbourne squeezed Victoria's hand warmly and smiled at her, and she returned him with a charming and sweet smile. Both were held by the hand all the way to Buckingham Palace.  
The banquet and the sumptuous post-wedding feast were held at the Palace. The atmosphere was naturally festive, quite cheerful. Victoria chatted enthusiastically and cheerfully with all the guests, especially Emma, Harriet and her mother, the Duchess. Lord Melbourne was also very nice, charming, with the guests, and when he saw George arrive (he had left little Elizabeth at his house before going to the Palace) he was moved.  
Lord Melbourne and Victoria danced, and Victoria's face was like the one she had in the Coronation Ball, enraptured like a girl in love, like the girl in love that night she dreamed of a kiss from Lord Melbourne ... and Victoria forgot for a moment that she was pregnant, waiting for a child of Albert.  
The uncle and cousin of Victoria, Leopold and Ernest, were present at the party, but with very different moods. Leopold seemed a little sad and discouraged, while Ernest, though at times he seemed a bit nostalgic, most of the time looked more or less happy, or at least more animated than his uncle.  
At one point Lord Melbourne and Ernest retired to a corner to talk with some privacy. Both seemed a little uncomfortable, but soon Ernest broke the ice.  
"Lord Melbourne ... I want to congratulate you ... Believe me when I say I'm happy for your wedding with my cousin. I am glad to know that my cousin Victoria will be happy in her marriage, because she has already suffered enough and deserves to be happy with the man she loves ... because I am sure that she loves you, and I know that you correspond to her, that also you loves her and will take care of her," Ernest said with sincerity, emotion and almost solemnity.  
"Thank you very much, Your Highness ... it is a gesture that honors you, and believe me it moves me ... I know how difficult this must be for you," replied Lord Melbourne, moved, with sincerity.  
"Yes, it is ... I will not lie to you, naturally I would like my brother was alive and that it was he who was celebrating his wedding with Victoria ..." Ernest said and his voice broke, his eyes got wet and he had to do an effort not to cry, bowing his head, before which Lord Melbourne was moved by remembering the death of his son and his own older brother ... but Ernest managed to calm down, "... but life must continue ... I confess that I had my doubts about the wedding of Albert and Victoria ... my brother and my cousin loved each other, without a doubt, but I think they were not made for each other. Albert was cold, rigid, cerebral and controlling, and on the contrary Victoria is all passion, feelings, intuition and impetus ... I think their personalities would have collided. Besides, since we arrived in England after Victoria climbed to the Throne, I realized that she felt something very special for you ... well, in spite of how painful it has been for my father and me, perhaps it was destiny, that it was putting things in their place," Ernest added with a sad smile.  
"And your father ... How is he? " Lord Melbourne asked affectionately.  
"Bad, frankly bad ... Albert's death has been a very hard blow for my father, naturally ... Not only because it is hard for any father to lose a child, but because with Albert died the hopes and dreams of greatness of my father, to see his House in high ... I fear that my father will not be late in meeting with Albert and I will have to assume the responsibilities of Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha before what I would have wanted," Ernest answered depressed and with some anguish.  
"I'm sorry to hear it," Lord Melbourne replied with regret.  
"Maybe I should not have been absent at this time in Coburg, but my absence could be misinterpreted ... in front the precipitate of Victoria's wedding, it was necessary for the whole world to see that the whole family was united in supporting my cousin's decision, thus avoiding rumors and ill-intentioned speculations ... Above all, because everyone in the closest family we knows the reasons for such a hasty wedding," said Ernest with a meaningful look.  
Lord Melbourne tensed and a little serious, and turned to the sides to make sure there was no one else nearby.  
"Then ... your father and you and ..." Lord Melbourne replied.  
"Only my father and me, apart from my uncle Leopold and my aunt, of course," Ernest answered, also looking at the sides, "My uncle Leopold considered that it was necessary that my father and me knew it, so that we could better understand the decision of my cousin Victoria and support her ... but in our Court of Coburg no one else knows, and from what I understand my cousins, Victoria's brothers, do not know ... In any case you should not worry about us Lord Melbourne, of course we will keep the secret."  
"Of course," Lord Melbourne answered, but the expression on his face was grim.  
"Lord Melbourne ... as far as I'm concerned, my brother Albert never had children ... As far as I'm concerned, all the children that God can give my cousin Victoria are yours ... On the other hand, I beg you not to judge harshly my family, especially my uncle Leopold, although I am aware that, he makes it very difficult for you ..." Ernest said and smiled wryly, while Lord Melbourne did too, "... my uncle Leopold, my father and my aunt Victoire were poor princes, the poor relatives of the European Royalty, the children of the Monarch of a small and insignificant principality ... they grew up with the ambition to ascend and peak, to reach the top of the European Royalty and be much more important what they should have been by birth ... They sacrificed a lot and suffered a lot to get here, for the dream of seeing the House Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the most powerful in Europe ... their dream was half fulfilled with Victoria, but sank with ..." Ernest felt like crying again and he swallow thick, "... the disappearance of Albert ... But fortunately at least Victoria and me have another way of thinking ... different from the previous generation. As I said, I just want my cousin to be happy, and I'm sure you will be her happiness," concluded Ernest.  
"Thank you, Your Highness," replied Lord Melbourne.  
"Ernest ... now that we are cousins, it would be appropriate to call me Ernest," said Ernest with a friendly smile.  
"Of course, Ernest ... although I warn you that it's hard for me to get used to the changes, with your cousin Victoria it was hard for me to stop calling her 'ma'am' and I still do," Lord Melbourne replied with a mocking smile.  
They both laughed, and then they saw Leopold approaching.  
"There comes the 'ogre' " Ernest said winking and with a mocking smile.  
"I congratulate you, Lord Melbourne ... I can only imagine the satisfaction you must feel at having become Consort of the Queen of England, something you probably never imagined would happen," said Leopold in his usual arrogant and self-sufficient tone.  
Ernest rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
"Indeed, Majesty ... I feel very happy to marry a wonderful woman, a woman who is worth much more than any Crown that can be girded in her head or any Throne in which she can sit ... the Throne and the Crown are not the ones give luster to her, it is she who gives luster to them," replied Lord Melbourne with a smile.  
Leopold made a gesture of defeat and anger, as on every occasion that Lord Melbourne disarmed him with an ingenious response.  
"Uncle, I think Lord Melbourne could not be more eloquent ... it's nice to receive him in the family, do not you think? " Ernest said seriously, but with a mocking smile.  
"Of course," said Leopold grudgingly and reluctantly. "Well, I think today we can all breathe a sigh of relief ... all but one person ..." added Leopold, glancing meaningfully at one of Victoria's paternal uncles, the Duke of Cumberland (who also he was the King of Hanover), who was walking through the large room where the people attending the party were gathered, with a glass in his hand and an angry face.  
Lord Melbourne and Ernest also turned their eyes to Cumberland, and frowned.  
"The ineffable King of Hanover ... obviously today is not the happiest day of his life," Lord Melbourne said with irony and contempt.  
"No doubt ... what that man would most like is that my niece had would fallen off a horse and broken her neck before she could give an heir to the Crown. He is never going to resign himself to having been born after Victoria's father, and that by that play of destiny the Crown of England was for a girl he despises and not for him. If it were by to complain about fate I would have even more reasons to be bitter ..." said Leopold with the bitterness reflected in his face, evidently referring to the fact that the death of his first wife and his first legitimate child in childbirth prevented him from to become a Consort of a Queen of England, what was now Lord Melbourne ... making Lord Melbourne and Ernest exchange a meaningful look, "... in any case in a few months Cumberland's bitterness will be greater ..." he added evidently referring to the birth of the child of Victoria and Albert who would be the Crown's new heir, "... but what annoys me, what worries me, is that out of spite, he is dedicated to dirtying my niece."  
"What do you mean, Majesty?" Lord Melbourne asked very seriously.  
"I mean that some friends in common and some sources that I have among the Tories politicians close to that idiot ... have told me that this miserable man is saying that the hasty wedding of my niece, besides being scandalous, is very suspicious and that to speculate on the reasons that push a single, young woman whose fiance was killed recently to marry so hastily with another man," said Leopold with a grimace of disgust and contempt.  
"Damn bastard! " exclaimed Ernest, turning to look towards the place where Cumberland was talking to another guest at that moment, seeing him with a murderous look, "he does not have a shred of decency!"  
"But surely he has no information, them must be only speculations of that wretched man without honor," said Lord Melbourne prudently, but with a gesture of worry and anger on his face.  
"I suppose ... I prefer to believe that he does not have spies in the Palace who have been able to find out something, and I really do not believe it, because everyone involved has been very discreet ... But even if them are only speculations, those malicious rumors are potentially very harmful, especially if them find a foothold in reality, in verifiable facts ... Let us pray that any important event in our family will take many months to arrive," Leopold replied seriously and somewhat annoyed.  
Lord Melbourne's face was covered with a gesture of anger and discomfort, and Ernest saw it distressed.  
"Uncle, I think this is not the time or the place to talk about certain topics ... Tonight we are celebrating a happy occasion, we are here to share the happiness of my cousin Victoria and express our best wishes ... There will be time for other things," Ernest said to Leopold calmly but in a tone of reproach.  
"You're right, Ernest," replied Leopold with some reluctance. "Lord Melbourne, my congratulations ... I really wish you well and that you are as successful in your role as Consort of the Queen as you were as Prime Minister."  
"Thank you very much, Majesty," replied Lord Melbourne politely.  
The night advanced and the party came to an end, and the guests withdrew. And inevitably the moment arrived when the newlyweds retired to their rooms. Although the couple had been considered to retire to Windsor in the days after the wedding, Lord Melbourne suggested that it was better to stay in Buckingham.  
On the wedding night, Miss Skerrett finished undressing Victoria and accompanied her as she put on her nightgown, a long, low-cut nightgown, white and semitransparent ... transparent enough to show Victoria's body shapes, dressed only in the nightgown ...  
When Victoria was wearing her nightgown, Baroness Lehzen watched her from the door of Victoria's bedroom, while Skerrett was standing next to the Queen.  
"Majesty ... do I tell Lord Melbourne to come? " Lehzen asked Victoria prudently.  
"Yes, please ... tell him he can come ... Skerrett waits a minute before leaving," Victoria said, and as Lehzen withdrew with a bow, Victoria turned to Skerrett. "Thanks for the nightgown, Skerrett, it's just what I expected," she added while blushing.  
"It is a pleasure, Majesty ... and if it is not a daring on my part, I would like to wish you luck and happiness," said Skerrett with red cheeks.  
"Thank you very much, Skerrett," Victoria replied.  
"With your permission I withdraw, Your Majesty," said Skerrett, bowing.  
Victoria gave her permission to retire and Skerrett left the bedroom. Meanwhile, in another room Lord Melbourne was sitting in a chair drinking a glass of whiskey. He is to half-undress, because although his valet had offered to help him change clothes, replacing his Windsor Uniform for sleepwear, but Lord Melbourne preferred to take off only the heavy jacket and stay with a light shirt, with sleeves rolled up and top buttons unbuttoned, exposing part of his chest. He left his uniform pants on and shoes.  
He was tense and nervous, a little uncomfortable, and he kept remembering the conversation he had had with Leopold at the party, which in turn brought to mind the fact that Victoria was pregnant, with an Albert's child. As he drank, the images that had tormented him so much when he learned that Victoria was pregnant began to come back to his mind, images of Victoria naked having sex with Albert, and he also remembered the anecdote of the drunken man who was lamenting having seen the woman he loved having sex with another man, the anecdote he had reminded his friend George days ago ...  
Lord Melbourne was becoming increasingly nervous and uncomfortable as he drank, and at one point he thought that on that wedding night in which there was no virgin to deflorate, the one who was nervous as a virgin about to be deflorated was him, which caused him an access of bitter and ironic laughter. But then he got serious and thought that he would love to be very far away from that moment, that he would like to be in Brocket Hall, in Dover House or in the house of his friend George. And at that moment they knocked on the door ...  
"Come in! " Lord Melbourne said and stood up, leaving his umpteenth drink of whiskey half-finished.  
Baroness Lehzen entered and was a little surprised to see him to half-undress.  
"Lord Melbourne ... Your Majesty is ready to ..." Baroness Lehzen said with awkwardness and shame, and stopped, blushing, as always when someone talked about something even remotely related to sex, "... she is prepared, and you can meeting her, in her bedroom, when you want."  
"I see," Lord Melbourne answered nervously and absently.  
Baroness Lehzen saw Lord Melbourne, and noticed that his face was a little broken, that seemed disturbed.  
"Lord Melbourne, do you feel good? " Lehzen asked with sincere concern.  
"Yeah, of course ... well, I know the way ... when I showed the Palace to Her Majesty when she moved here, and Victoria's maid, miss ... Skerrett, along with one of the servants reminded me of the path when they brought me to this room ... I'll be in a couple of minutes, thank you very much, Baroness," said Lord Melbourne kindly, but a little nervous.  
"You're welcome, Lord Melbourne ..." Lehzen replied and turned to leave, but then stopped and turned to see Lord Melbourne, "Lord Melbourne ... may sound silly and presumptuous of me, even daring, but for me Her Majesty is as if she were my daughter and I think she sees me a bit like her mother, which of course honors me ... that's why I feel very grateful to you, and I feel happy, because I know, which for my Drina today is the day happiest of her life, and I'm sure you'll take care of her ... Thank you, Lord Melbourne," Lehzen said excited, but trying to sound as calm as possible.  
"Thank you, Baroness ... your words are important to me, believe me," replied Lord Melbourne.  
The Baroness withdrew, and Lord Melbourne stood alone for a few moments, sipping two shots of whiskey, then wrung his hands and ran a hand through his hair. He took a deep breath and then left the room to go to Victoria's bedroom.  
Meanwhile, in her bedroom Victoria walked from side to side, dressed only in her nightgown and barefoot. Then she sat on the bed, but a moment later she heard the door open, and she jumped up, and saw Lord Melbourne enter the bedroom and close the door.  
Lord Melbourne was impressed to see her in a nightgown and could not help but feel a little excited to find out perfectly her body under the garment. She blushed and smiled shyly when she noticed how he saw her. They both remained silent for a moment.  
"You have not changed," Victoria said happily and charmingly.  
"Yes, I ... well, I was so stunned and exhausted that I could not undress. The Windsor Uniform is strenuous, hot and annoying," answered Lord Melbourne laughing a little.  
"I'm sorry, I should not have insisted that you wear it," Victoria replied with a nervous giggle, and Lord Melbourne responded with laughter, and then the nervous silence between them was again made, "Do you want a bit of Porto? " she added as she went to the bottle that was next to a couple of glasses on a small table.  
"No, quiet, Victoria ... I've already drunk a lot at the party and while waiting to come here, in the room where I was placed ... In fact, I think I drank almost a bottle of whiskey by myself, because of nerves," said Lord Melbourne friendly and with a smile.  
"You are nervous too? " Victoria asked a little anxiously.  
"Yes, of course ... it has been a day of intense emotions ... I must say that you have been magnificent Victoria, and very beautiful," said Lord Melbourne.  
"You mean it, Lord M? " Victoria replied getting close to him, facing him.  
"Of course, ma'am ... You're as beautiful as an angel, and today you've been like a heavenly vision," said Lord Melbourne, looking into her eyes.  
"You looked splendid too ... you're so handsome, Lord M," said Victoria, closing the distance between their bodies, and she was already skimming Lord Melbourne.  
Lord Melbourne felt his heart speed up and remembered the scene they both lived in the corridor on the night of the Coronation Ball. The gesture of the face and the brightness of Victoria's eyes were the same as those she had at that moment, when drunk by the champagne and her excited by the proximity of both during the dance, she came dangerously close to him and she look forward that he would kiss her ... and God knew that on that occasion he wanted to kiss her, that he wanted to taste the taste of her lips, that he wanted to hold her and caress her, and even go further ... but his sense of duty, that damn sense of duty had held him back. But now she was his wife before God, the law of men and country, and nothing prevented him from taking her, possessing her body. And he knew that she wanted him, he saw it clearly in her eyes and in her face, in the way her body trembled, in how she approached him despite her nerves, in how her breasts rose and them came down, betraying that her breathing had accelerated.  
And indeed Victoria wished that he would hug her and kiss her, that he would make love to her, she was excited ...  
Lord Melbourne hesitated, and saw the bottle of Porto that was on the table, and then to his mind came the memory of what Victoria told him weeks ago ... he remembered how she told him when she lost her virginity with Albert. He remembered that they had gotten drunk (at least that's what she told him) and had begun to kiss and caress each other, until they lost control and ended up making love ... and that memory hit him like a punch. And again the images that had imagined his mind disturbed again him, those images of Victoria and Albert having sex. The reality of Victoria's pregnancy, that at that moment she was carrying Albert's child inside her belly, made him uncomfortable again. How could he be inside her body if inside her body was another man's child? And then he knew it ...  
The face of Lord Melbourne was covered with a gesture of sadness and his head approached Victoria's head, and she closed her eyes waiting for a kiss on the lips ... but he kissed her forehead. She opened her eyes a bit confused, and then he took one of her hands.  
"Come on, let's sit down, Victoria," said Lord Melbourne.  
Victoria smiled excitedly again, while Lord Melbourne led her to the bed, making her sit down and he sat down beside her. Lord Melbourne began to caress Victoria's hand like he did in front the rooks in Brocket Hall, when he rejected her proposal.  
"Victoria, you know what I feel for you, and you must know that I wish you ... and you should also know that I want to make you very happy, that I want our marriage to be successful and happy ... But, I ... tonight I ..." Lord Melbourne said distressed and very delicately.  
"Tonight, you do not want lay down with me," Victoria said, her voice broken and her eyes wet, feeling like crying.  
"No, Victoria, please ... do not take it the wrong way. I wish you, but ..." Lord Melbourne replied anguished, extending his hand and stroking Victoria's cheek with his palm.  
"No, do not worry ... I understand, Lord M ... I'm pregnant, and it's normal that in my state you do not want to have intimacy," Victoria said calmly and with a sweet smile, while extending her own hand to caress the face of Lord Melbourne.  
Victoria remembered the advice of her mother and Skerrett, and understood that she should be patient with Lord Melbourne.  
"When you give birth we will have a normal marital life, of course ... in the meantime I could sleep in a room connected with yours," said Lord Melbourne in an affectionate tone.  
"But you can sleep here! ... Even if we do not have intimacy, you could sleep next to me," Victoria replied anxiously and frustrated.  
"It would be even for your comfort, Victoria ... while you are pregnant you will be more comfortable having the bed and the entire bedroom for yourself ... It will only be a few months Victoria, then we will have our honeymoon, I promise. Then I will make you happy," said Lord Melbourne sweetly, and then came over to kiss her on the lips, a soft and tender kiss, which lasted a few moments, "Believe me when I tell you that the wait will be harder for me than for you," he added leaning his forehead against hers.  
Victoria smiled sweetly, and stroked her husband's hair.  
"It will not be easy for me either, but I'll wait patiently, William," she said happier.  
"And tonight I'll stay here with you, I'll sleep by your side ... If it does not bother you," said Lord Melbourne.  
"Of course not," Victoria replied with a wider smile.  
"But first let me do something ... please lie down," replied Lord Melbourne.  
Victoria saw him, intrigued and a little hopeful, and she lay on her side as she watched as Lord Melbourne got up and went to the dressing table and rummaged until he found something. Finally he returned to the bed with an object in his hand and climbed onto the bed, next to Victoria. She saw with more curiosity that it was a scissors ...  
Lord Melbourne completely rolled up one sleeve of his shirt, leaving his left arm almost completely bare. Then he searched his forearm for a point that seemed good to him, and when he found it, he directed the scissors there and made a superficial cut that began to shed blood immediately ...  
"But what are you doing! " Victoria exclaimed scandalized and anguished by him, and even reached out to try to remove the scissors as if to avoid a suicide.  
"Quiet, Victoria ... it's just a small cut, in a couple of days it will heal ... It is necessary for this ..." Lord Melbourne said reassuringly.  
Victoria saw Lord Melbourne drop the small flow of blood on the mattress cover of the bed and on the sheets, and then she understood ...  
"We can not trust all the servitude of the Palace as we do of Baroness Lehzen and your maid Skerrett ... and it is better to leave evidence that everything happened as it should," said Lord Melbourne inexpressively.  
"Forgive me, Lord M," said Victoria, embarrassed as she lowered her head, unable to see her husband's eyes and feeling the tears come from her eyes.  
"No, please ... you have nothing to be ashamed of tonight," said Lord Melbourne and released the scissors to raise Victoria's chin with his right hand. "Today you made me the happiest man in the world, I do not care what happened in the past."  
She smiled with emotion and spontaneously kissed him on the lips. When they parted, he smiled too.  
"I'd better spill some drops on your nightgown," he added.  
After leaving enough evidence that Victoria's virginity had been broken that night, Lord Melbourne took out a handkerchief and knotted it around the small wound.  
"You should have let me do it," Victoria protested, still embarrassed.  
"No, you are pregnant ... besides a cut would be harder to hide it, in you than in me, remember that I always use long-shirts, and jackets. Besides, this is nothing compared to what the idiot George did to me the moment he nailed me a bayonet," answered Lord Melbourne.  
"He stuck you a bayonet! " Victoria exclaimed surprised.  
"Yes, but of course it was by accident, because of his stupid clumsiness ... It was when we both served in the Hertfordshire Volunteer Infantry, and it was during a routine practice. Our senior officer told us ..."  
Lord Melbourne told Victoria the story of how George wounded him during a combat rehearsal, while she listened with interest and fun at the end, when they both laughed. That anecdote followed many others that Lord Melbourne told her throughout the night, and Victoria also told him many anecdotes of her own life before she met him, from her childhood and adolescence in Kensington. The two talked, laughed and were moved for hours, until the dream overcame Victoria and fell asleep with her head on the chest of Lord Melbourne, who watched her, him dazzled for a while before falling asleep too.  
After a few hours the discreet call of Lehzen woke them up and Lord Melbourne kindly greeted Victoria before retiring to his own private room to change. Lehzen and Skerrett picked up the sheets and the cover of the bed and were surprised by the bloodstains that were also in Victoria's nightgown, but she explained what Lord Melbourne had done. The two women did not comment on anything out of discretion, but both were somewhat moved by the gesture of Lord Melbourne, especially Lehzen thanking the man who protected her girl. Skerrett intentionally brought the garments to the palace washerwomen almost ostentatiously, and when the two young women saw the garments exchanged mischievous glances and began to laugh until they froze in fear as Lehzen appeared behind Skerrett. The women took the garments and dipped them in clean water, that it dyed of reddish spots, before they began to throw soap. Lehzen and Skerrett withdrew and left the washerwomen alone. When they were far enough away, Lehzen turned to look at Skerrett.  
"I know them well, they are gossips and they also love the lascivious details ... today the whole Palace and tomorrow all London will know that the Queen was a virgin until last night," said Skerrett in a firm and sure tone.  
"Very well, that's the way it should be. Tell Lord Melbourne to give you his bloodstained handkerchief when he takes it off his arm and you get rid of it," Lehzen said coldly.  
"Yes, Baroness."  
And so began the marriage of Lord Melbourne and Victoria ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:  
> Chapter 14: The Vase and Sword Incident: Violent Confrontation in Buckingham.


	14. The Vase and Sword Incident: Violent Confrontation in Buckingham.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A violent incident could alter the story of Victoria and Lord Melbourne, and put the Queen and her husband at risk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “The so-called 'Incident of the Vase and the Sword', also known as 'The Incident of the infamous King and the angry Lord', is one of those anecdotal episodes in history that in their own time were considered probably apocryphal, an event discarded by some as a simple gossip or rumor without foundation, but seen by others as an event for the most part real. But the people closest to the Court of Queen Victoria knew that something serious and real had happened that day, although very few people knew the whole truth. Several years later, the events that took place in that small room in Buckingham Palace began to be confirmed, when the heirs of one of the main actors of the drama, now with nothing to lose, began to spread their version of the incident, which forced the others involved to tell their own version of the controversial fact. The truth is that that day a tragedy could have happened that could have seriously altered the fate of Queen Victoria's reign, and thereby have conditioned the later British history. More controversial and serious are the alleged causes of that violent confrontation, in which some blood was spilled, because the accusation against Victoria could have forced her to abdicate ... " "Victoria and Lord Melbourne: The Birth of a Romantic and Passionate Era / The Precursor Roots of the Sexual Revolution in the 19th Century", by Pamela Jernigan, Chapter 9: The violent Incident that would had can changed History.

It had been a dizzying few weeks since the wedding of Victoria and Lord Melbourne. They tried to postpone as much as possible the official announcement of Victoria's pregnancy, to try to discourage gossip and malicious rumors, and make credible that the child was of Lord Melbourne. But the growing discomfort and the considerable growth of Victoria's belly forced them not to wait as long as everyone would have wanted, especially Victoria's mother and Uncle Leopold.  
So whole Great Britain was notified that her Queen's recent marriage to her unorthodox husband had been blessed with the upcoming arrival of a child, a presumptive heir to the Crown. Most of the British greeted the idea with joy, but in the newspapers there were some very veiled insidious insinuations, almost always in the letters to the editor. They were surprised by how quickly the Queen had become pregnant, and wondered how much time would pass before the birth of the new prince or princess ...  
However, the cowardly and ill-intentioned insinuations were ignored by the majority, at least for the time being. But it would be decisive when Victoria would gave birth to her first child (the posthumous child of Albert) because if the child was rushing to get to the world, that would complicate things a lot. That is why the people around Victoria who knew the shameful secret behind her motherhood prayed that the delivery would be delayed instead of to anticipate, including Victoria's husband, the man who had assumed the ungrateful role of marrying her while she was pregnant with another man, to save her from shame and from a catastrophic and premature end to her still young reign.  
But Victoria herself did not share those desires, for she was increasingly desperate and anguished. Desperate because she suffered impatiently the discomforts of her pregnancy, and distressed because the shadow of the tragic death of her cousin Charlotte (the first wife of her uncle Leopold) when giving birth to her only child (who also died in the disastrous birth) tormented her, fearing to run the same sad fate of that female-cousin she never knew.  
Meanwhile, Victoria was also sad and a little disappointed by her marriage to Lord Melbourne. She could not complain that he was cold, cruel or indifferent to her, because on the contrary he was very affectionate with her, he treated her with enough love and tenderness. Lord Melbourne struggled to comfort Victoria in those moments when she felt more depressed or irritated by her discomforts and fears. He was as or more charming than when he was her Prime Minister, Secretary and best friend (besides the first man she fell in love with). They spent most of the day together, alone or in the company of relatives and members of the Court of Victoria, and really only separated, in the day, when she had to work on her official duties, especially when she had to receive Prime Minister Peel. But the problem came at night ...  
Every night Lord Melbourne said goodbye to Victoria with a kiss on the cheek, and then he retired to his bedroom, and she to her own. Victoria had given up hope of having intimate relationships with her husband before giving birth, and simply would had been satisfied that he slept beside her, in the same bed, even if it was the innocent way in which a children would do. But Lord Melbourne insisted politely on having his own bedroom and sleeping in it.  
Victoria was comprehensive to Lord Melbourne, and even she felt guilty and ashamed, for it had been her embarrassing behavior that caused her husband to avoid sexual contact with her, being pregnant with Albert. How could a man be reproached for not fulfilling his conjugal duties in privacy when that man had married a pregnant woman for another man, to save her from scandal and humiliation?  
If Lord Melbourne had been a greedy and scoundrel, if he would have married her for interest, for hunger for wealth, and only for that reason would he have been willing to ignore Victoria's indecent behavior ... in that case Victoria would not have felt guilt or remorse . But she knew perfectly well that he had not married out of ambition, but out of love, and that was why he had saved her ... And for that reason she lamented that the best man in the world had to settle for a wife like her, and with a marriage like that, when he deserved a woman who honored him.  
Despite that, even though she could not get angry with him or claim anything ... she felt frustrated and insecure. Victoria had little experience with passion, with lust, having had sex only once and in very unsatisfactory conditions (drunk and losing her virginity with a clumsy, deficient and abrupt lover) but she knew enough to know that she desired Lord Melbourne. Her body demanded lust, she wanted to feel loved and above all desired, now that her body was experiencing those unpleasant changes (especially the fatness of her belly that she hated so much). She would have begged on her knees for Lord Melbourne to touch her, to caress her body, so that he would just put his hands on her arms, her shoulders, her breasts ... or just lie down beside her and grab her hand.  
Victoria feared that her marriage would always be that way, that even after giving birth, Lord Melbourne could never forget and that theirs would was a cordial marriage but without passion, without a passionate intimate life between them. No, it definitely had not been a good start for their marriage ...  
But that night Victoria tried to forget her regrets and worries. There was a party in the Palace, a celebration with a somewhat frivolous excuse and that all those attending the event would soon forget, as they would only remember that night because of the incident that everyone would end up knowing with the passage of time ...  
Victoria wanted to take advantage of one of the last parties she could attend, soon her pregnancy would not allow her to go to any party and then she would have to stop celebrating those social events in the Palace. The idea of having to remain in seclusion made Victoria bitter and that is why tonight she wanted to savor every minute and enjoy as much as possible, although she could not dance or drink.  
The party started beautifully. Lord Melbourne took her arm while both made their triumphal entry to start the party. He whispered in her ear and did not stop making lovely and funny comments, while telling her several times how beautiful she was that night. Victoria knew that he did it to inspire her and keep her happy, as he always did in the most difficult moments for her, and because Lord Melbourne knew that she felt fat and ugly. Victoria appreciated the attention of her husband and that made her feel more optimistic about the future of their relationship.  
So Victoria and Lord Melbourne behaved like excellent hosts (because now Lord Melbourne was also host at Buckingham Palace, as Consort of the Queen) and when they were not together, they moved in different directions from the huge hall where the celebration was held party and dance, each one met with groups of guests and conversed with them, and laughter was frequent. But Victoria got tired often, and had to sit on a sofa ... she felt the fatigue that her pregnancy caused her, particularly in her swollen feet. When she was sitting, her mother, Emma, Harriet or Lehzen were always there to keep her company, and Lord Melbourne also came to sit with her for a few minutes until she insisted that he continue to entertain the guests with his charm and sense of humour.  
Victoria saw the couples dance and felt a certain envy, but she was also touched because she knew that Lord Melbourne had gently excused himself all night so as not to have to dance in front of his wife who could not do it. She resigned herself to studying the faces of the many people attending the party and dedicating herself to the game of remembering each person's name and biography. But there were people whose presence did not distract or amuse Victoria, but filled her with restlessness or irritation ...  
Uncle Leopold had come from Belgium on one of his frequent visits (perhaps too frequent for Victoria's taste) and he paced the party with his usual arrogance. Leopold had always had the ability to irritate Victoria, to anger her, with his constant determination to control her and tell her what to do, and to reprimand her when she did something that he thought was wrong or unworthy of her role as Queen. Although Victoria recognized the merit of Leopold for having initiated the necessary effort to make possible the wedding of her with Lord Melbourne, although his contribution had been important (although Lord Melbourne's friend, Lord George, and Lord M himself had made a contribution more important to the process), and that's why Victoria knew she was in debt to him, she could not help but despair and get irritated because of him, and now that with her pregnancy everything bothered her much more, the last thing she needed was Leopold exercising like a severe teacher or a scolding uncle. Deep down Victoria loved him, but it was the affection someone feels for an annoying and obtrusive relative.  
For whom Victoria felt no affection, it was for her paternal uncle the Duke of Cumberland (and also King of Hanover), who was the other annoying character of that night.  
Victoria hated Cumberland because she knew he hated her, and he hated her because she had been the obstacle that stood between him and the Throne of Great Britain. If that condemned girl had not been born, or if she had died at birth or as a child, Cumberland would be the King of England, and not just the King of a small and poor Kingdom among the many sovereign and independent principalities in which Germany was divided in those times. Quite sure Cumberland cursed the day when that damn German princess married to his brother gave birth to that girl who moved him in the line of succession to the British Crown, truncating his expectations in life. The suffering people of Hanover had to pay the price, suffering the tyranny of a despotic King ...  
Victoria knew that her feelings for her wicked uncle were not simple paranoia, because all her loved ones, including Lord Melbourne, shared her feelings and opinions about that scoundrel. They even took seriously the possibility that he would try to attack his niece's life before she could give birth to an heir to the Crown, because if she died without heirs he would be the new King of the United Kingdom.  
But in addition, everyone suspected that Cumberland was behind those cowardly suggestions about the paternity of Victoria's child or at least about the time the child was conceived, through his puppets that wrote the pamphlets distributed in the streets or letters to the editor sent to newspapers. For Victoria, Lord Melbourne and the couple's trusted people at the Court, it was obvious that Cumberland was trying to discredit his niece and sabotage her reign, trying to generate a crisis that would forced Victoria to abdicate, or at least take revenge on her for the sin of being born.  
Although Victoria had wanted to break any relationship with the wicked uncle who hated her and only wished to hurt her, even though she would have liked to forbid him to set foot in England again, she knew she could not do it ... unfortunately the politics prevented it. Trying to banish her uncle was almost impossible, because after all he was still a member of the British Royal Family (although he was also King of a foreign country) and whatever Victoria did to break relations with him, Cumberland would know how to reverse them so that Victoria would seemed a madwoman who acted out of caprice and resentment.  
So Victoria was forced to treat him like any member of the Royal Family and invite him to official celebrations, hoping that he would stay in his little Germanic kingdom and not attend the parties to which he was invited. But sometimes he would attend, if only to annoy Victoria with his presence.  
That night Victoria felt revulsion whenever she saw him walking around the room, with his insolent arrogance and his cynical gesture on his face. The anger that Victoria felt became almost a physical discomfort surely favored by her pregnancy, and she almost felt gagging to see him, as if it were a disgusting thing that would produce in her, desire to vomit. The greeting between Victoria and Lord Melbourne on the one hand, and Cumberland on the other was very cold and tense, though tempered by social politeness and political diplomacy, though Cumberland said some cynical words that seemed to provoke Victoria and her husband, but Lord Melbourne responded with sarcasm and wit, not exempt from rage.  
To make matters worse, the damned Cumberland had brought a lapdog ... him was Ludwig Schulze, a captain of the Hanoverian Army, who served as an aide-de-camp to Cumberland (in his capacity as King of Hanover). The man was as unpleasant as his master, exuded servility with Cumberland and contemptuous arrogance with the rest of the people. Schulze was young, he was little over 30 years old. He was more or less tall, with a thin, muscular build, very white skin and blond hair, with a thick mustache. His face was attractive, and as a whole could be considered a handsome man, but his arrogant attitude, a man who looked with disdain at everybody, considering himself superior to most, and the grim and cynical gesture of his face, made him be unfriendly to almost anyone who knew him.  
When Cumberland introduced him to Victoria and Lord Melbourne as his aide-de-camp, the impression he made on both of them could not be worse. His greeting to Lord Melbourne was not deferential as it should be to someone who was superior to him (for he was the Consort of the British Queen) but rather it was cold and almost discourteous, bordering on the contemptuous. And his greeting to Victoria was insolent, for he saw her in a way that seemed to mix disdain, mockery and a certain lust, like a despicable man, boorish and cruel, he would see a prostitute with whom he wished to go to bed but at the same time despised her. Lord Melbourne clenched his fists in anger when he saw the way the insolent man saw Victoria's cleavage, while she felt uncomfortable and angry. Cumberland smiled mockingly. From this behavior, Victoria and Lord Melbourne deduced that Cumberland had been such a scoundrel that he had talked to his servile aide about Victoria, and he would have referred to her in derogatory terms, as if she were a prostitute. The hatred of both grew, but still nothing foreshadowed what was going to happen ...  
At one point in the evening, Lord Melbourne was talking to Leopold, which was not so usual, since both men had hated each other since they met. But since Lord Melbourne had married Victoria, the relationship between the King of Belgium and his niece's Consort had improved a little, though there was still some suspicion in their conversations.  
But that night they had a few minutes of civilized talk about different aspects of politics, when Lord Melbourne's friend Lord George approached them.  
"George, I waited for you for quite some time ... it is rare that you arrive late to a party with good food and fun," Lord Melbourne said in a slightly mocking tone when he approached them.  
"Your Majesty," George said to Leopold with a slight nod, "William ..." continued to see his friend Lord Melbourne, "... I apologize but something important came up at the last moment and he was informing me, and getting evidence ... I am afraid that it is about that matter we are talking about and requires your immediate attention," he added with a serious gesture.  
"Is it about Victoria? Cumberland? You can speak with confidence in front of His Majesty, as Victoria's uncle, must get to know whatever," replied Lord Melbourne, also becoming very serious.  
"In that case, may I suggest to Your Majesty and to you, William, that we go to a private place to talk," George said in a tone that left no doubt about the urgency.  
The three men went to a small room adjacent to the main hall, and once there, George hurriedly pulled out some papers from a folder he was carrying with him, and then the disgust and anger arose in Leopold and Lord Melbourne ...  
"Are you sure this will be published tomorrow?" Leopold asked as he waved a piece of paper in his hand.  
"Yes, sir ... I have my sources in the press as Lord Melbourne knows, and it is sure that they will publish it as a letter to the editor, to protect himself from a lawsuit, of course," George answered.  
"This is outrageous! ... They had never gone so far in their attacks and insinuations! Here they practically accuse my niece of having become with child before getting married, they insinuate that Lord Melbourne might not be the father and they wonder if a bastard will sit on the Throne ... of course they disguise it with a parable and without mentioning her, by name, but it is quite clear who they are referring to," replied Leopold indignantly.  
"And will this be distributed on the streets?" Lord Melbourne asked, holding in his hands some pamphlets in which with rude drawings and hurtful phrases with vulgar allusions attacked Victoria's reputation.  
"Yes, you know I have the ability and money to get contacts even in the enemy camp ... Cumberland is mobilizing all his resources to attack Her Majesty, it seems he is determined to embarrass the Queen," George replied.  
Lord Melbourne crumpled the papers and threw them on a table with contempt.  
"This must not be tolerated!" Leopold exclaimed indignantly, "Lord Melbourne, we must take advantage of that scoundrel is here to have a very serious conversation with him," added the Belgian King.  
"I think we agree on that, sir," said Lord Melbourne, his face dark, his anger restrained.  
Leopold went to look for Cumberland, while Lord Melbourne and George talked, and George saw that the storm was announced in the face of his friend. Leopold returned with Cumberland and his inseparable assistant, Ludwig Schulze.  
"I do not think I know the gentleman, and I would prefer him to leave," said Cumberland as soon as he entered, seeing Lord George, who held his gaze defiantly.  
"The gentleman is Lord George Mcphail, Earl of Enniscorthy, my best friend and someone who has a lot to say about what we are going to discuss now ... but I can ask you to leave if you ask your companion to leave, since his presence here I do not consider it necessary," replied Lord Melbourne with firm tone and hard look.  
"Captain Ludwig Schulze is my personal aide and escort, I have no secrets for him, and he will stay here with me, or there will be no conversation," Cumberland replied haughtily, while his assistant took out his emboldened chest and saw Lord Melbourne with rude contempt.  
"In that case, Lord George also stays," said Lord Melbourne in a tone that did not allow discussion.  
Cumberland did not insist, and then the discussion began between Cumberland, Leopold and Lord Melbourne, with Ludwig contemplating as a watchdog on alert, and George keeping silent and speaking only at Lord Melbourne's request to explain what he knew, while Cumberland denied it without much conviction.  
"This is intolerable, sir! ... For God, this is not worthy of a King and a prince of royal blood! ... To drag through the mud the reputation of your own niece, another Queen anointed by God!" Leopold exclaimed angrily.  
"At least my niece and me are monarchs anointed by God, not like other improvised Monarchs whose Crown has been offered to them as a second option by revolutionaries rebelling against their legitimate King," said Cumberland offending Leopold, whose Crown of King of the Belgians it was offered to him by the leaders of the Revolution that made that country independent, after one of the King of France's sons rejected the Crown, "But I think you overestimate my influence ... the men behind these hateful writings are surely wrong in the way of expressing their criticisms, but they have the right, as subjects of this great country, to demand that the Throne be occupied by a Monarch of irreproachable conduct and to demand explanations when they have the fear that it is not so," him added cynically.  
"These men, sir, are not really men nor are they worthy of being subjects of this great country, they are scoundrels ... scoundrels who sully the honor of a woman who is also their Queen anointed by God ... A Queen who if can boast of something, it is of an irreproachable behavior, unlike others," replied Lord Melbourne, trying to maintain self-control, but becoming more and more angry.  
"Yes, that was already you said in the Privy Council, Lord Melbourne ... You made that day very clear what you think of the members of the Royal Family and of our behavior," Cumberland said with a look full of hatred, remembering how that Lord Melbourne had embarrassed him by remembering his dark and sinister past.  
"Sir, this does not do anyone any good, and certainly does not do it to you, because England will not forgive an uncle who disparages his own niece, who drags her reputation for the mud and exposes her to public contempt and humiliation, and less when the reason for doing so is to take away her crown or take revenge for not being able to do it ... I think, sir, that the best thing you can do is accept once and for all that God chose your niece to be his anointed and not you. There is still time you understand it and amend your behavior," said Lord Melbourne as if he were making a very serious warning.  
"Maybe you're right, Lord Melbourne. But I think that God probably made a mistake in this case or that my niece despised the gift that God gave her and is no longer worthy of being the anointed," answered Cumberland with a mocking smile and a cynical gesture on his face.  
"And why, sir?" Lord Melbourne asked as the gesture of his face hardened.  
"Because I have reason to believe that my niece was not a virgin when she got married and that she was probably already with child," Cumberland replied in a perverse and cynical way, savoring every poisonous and offensive word.  
"Miserable scoundrel!" exclaimed Leopold scandalized and furious, seeing with hatred Cumberland.  
Lord Melbourne clenched his fists and a deep rage was reflected on his face and his gaze. But he maintained an apparent serenity.  
"And I have reason to believe that you are a murderer and I am sure you are a despicable scoundrel," Lord Melbourne replied without raising his voice, but with a cold tone full of contempt and anger.  
A current of tension shook all those present. They were all standing, Cumberland and Lord Melbourne face to face, with Leopold at their side, between them. Captain Schulze and George were a little apart from the other three, by the mantelpiece. When Cumberland heard the insult, his face grew livid with rage and he took a step back, as if he had been slapped.  
"How do you dare!" Cumberland exclaimed furiously.  
"In the same way that you dare to insult your niece and question her honor as a woman ... But the difference is that while you defame her with lies, I'm just telling the truth ... or you did not kill at least one time to a man?" Lord Melbourne said without raising his voice but with more hatred and contempt.  
"Be careful what you say, scoundrel!" Captain Schulze exclaimed, defending his master.  
"Be careful what you say, bastard! ... You are speaking to the Consort of the Queen of England!" George replied defending his friend and both men exchanged murderous glances.  
"Gentlemen, please! We must not lose our manners and ..." Leopold exclaimed, trying to calm the situation.  
"I demand that you ask me for forgiveness and that you retracts of what you has said! " cried Cumberland, addressing Lord Melbourne.  
"I will do it when you apologize to Victoria and order your servants to stop messing with my wife's reputation," Lord Melbourne replied with cold anger.  
"What can be expected from a man without honor! A poor idiot humiliated in front of the whole country for the slut of his first wife ... the son of a woman who ..." answered Cumberland.  
"Be careful with what you says about my mother!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne, taking a few steps toward Cumberland in a threatening manner.  
Captain Schulze placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, a gesture that was warned by George that he surreptitiously stepped back and stood behind Schulze while looking for something with his eyes.  
"The truth hurts! You carry the indecency in your blood, you're a dirty bastard who probably does not even know who your real father is!" cried Cumberland, raising his voice and spitting out his hatred, addressing Lord Melbourne.  
"Enough, Cumberland! ... You are exceeding yourself, behave like a gentleman!" Leopold exclaimed that he never thought he would defend Lord Melbourne.  
"I'd rather be a dirty bastard than a murderer and a scoundrel coward who spreads lies about his young niece to deprive her of what is rightfully hers!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne, raising his voice.  
"You two are worthy of each other! ... You are the best person to marry her, because you are already used to being a cuckold ... because after all my niece Victoria is not better than a Billingsgate woman! " cried Cumberland with all his wickedness and contempt, referring to the women who worked as prostitutes in the infamous London neighborhood of Billingsgate.  
And then everything exploded ...  
Cumberland fell on his back, sitting on a sofa, when he suffered a heavy blow to his face ... Lord Melbourne had punched him in the face, a brutal blow with all the strength of his brawny right arm ...  
Captain Schulze unsheathed his sword and made an attempt to throw himself at Lord Melbourne, but then there was a loud noise, a thud, followed by the noise of an object exploding. It was the result of the blow that George gave Schulze on the head with a large vase he had taken from a corner ... the vase exploded into a thousand pieces when George slammed into the head of the Hanoverian officer who fell to the ground, lying face down, while a thin thread of blood began to sprout from a wound in his head and to stain the ground.  
George hurried to lean down and took the sword from Schulze's hand, and then placed the sharp point of the sword on the back of Schulze's neck, and pressed it against it without nail it. Meanwhile he placed one foot on the officer's back and another foot on the arm with which he had held the sword, to immobilize him.  
Meanwhile, Lord Melbourne grabbed Cumberland by the lapels of the suit and picked him up violently from the sofa, as if he were a dummy, and pushed him against the wall, causing the back and the back of Cumberland's head to hit the wall. Cumberland was bleeding from the nose ...  
Leopold watched the scene with wide eyes, with surprise and scandal on his face, impacted.  
Baroness Lehzen was walking through the room where the party was held, near the door of the room where the scene between the men took place, while she watched with her hawk eyes to make sure that the employees complied correctly with their duties to attend to the guests. She saw Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, who was a few steps away from her, and they exchanged suspicious glances as always when they saw each other, since both women competed for affection as Victoria's daughter. The Baroness was going to continue on her way, when she heard a loud rumble coming from the adjacent room, the unmistakable noise of something exploding and breaking.  
In spite of the music that accompanied the couples that danced, and the noise produced by the voices of the guests who talked while the others danced, the people closest to the door of the room also heard the loud noises that came from inside and they turned to see the door of the small room.  
The Baroness went to the door and opened it hoping to find a clumsy employee who had broken some furniture ornaments, but when she entered she found the shocking scene of Lord Melbourne lifting Cumberland and practically knocking him against a wall, and on the other hand Lord Melbourne's friend, Lord George, threatening a sword and pinning a Hanoverian officer under his feet. The Baroness hurried to close the door behind her but saw that the Duchess of Kent was coming towards them, probably attracted by curiosity.  
"Please, Your Highness, do not let Drina get close! ... If you love her, do not let her see what happens here in her current condition!" exclaimed Baroness Lehzen in the Duchess's ear, at the door of the small room, while the Baroness kept the door half closed and with her body blocked the vision so that those who were outside could not see well what was happening inside.  
The Duchess glimpsed Leopold's pale face over shoulder of Baroness and saw Lehzen's anguished gesture, and then nodded and walked away, while the Baroness closed the door.  
The Duchess made her way among guests who murmured among themselves, conjecturing what was happening in that room. Victoria's mother signaled to a servant who approached her in a hurry.  
"Tell the orchestra on behalf of the mother of the Queen that from now on they only play very happy music, which makes couples dance with a lot of energy ... the most strident as possible, and that they touch it as high as possible," said the Duchess trying to make the music hide the noises that came from the room attached.  
The employee nodded and walked away to comply with the order. Then the Duchess saw Victoria approaching and hurried out to meet her.  
"Mama, I can not find Lord M and I do not see Uncle Leopold either ... do not you know if they're talking somewhere?" Victoria asked normally, without suspecting what was happening.  
"Don't worry, they will appear, they must be talking somewhere, in some corner ... come on, I want to introduce you to someone, a German baroness who knows your sister," said the Duchess grabbing her daughter by the arm and pulling her.  
"Mama, you're dragging me! I'm coming, I'm with child and I can not run," Victoria replied a little annoyed.  
Inside the room, Lehzen watched horrified what was happening.  
"Bastard ... you will not call my wife a prostitute in my presence! ... I'll kill you if you call prostitute to Victoria again!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne furiously as he had never been in his life before, while still holding Cumberland by the lapels of his suit.  
Lehzen covered her mouth with one hand and then saw Cumberland with anger.  
"Lord Melbourne, have you gone crazy?" Leopold said scandalized.  
Captain Schulze tried to move but felt the cutting edge of the tip of the sword against the back of his neck and the feet of Lord George immobilizing his arm and his back.  
"Don't move son of a bitch! ... Unless you want me to kill you ... do you know how they kill bulls in a bullfight in Spain? I've seen them, they kill them with a sword thrust in the nape, as I think I will do to you if you move, bastard," said George in a malevolent voice and threatening tone.  
Lehzen watched in horror as George threatened Schulze.  
"You bastard! ... You have attacked me! ... I will not forgive this offense! ... You'll pay me!" Cumberland exclaimed struggling with Lord Melbourne to get rid of him, but Lord Melbourne was stronger and kept him cornered against the wall.  
"Do you want a satisfaction to your honor, you damned scoundrel! ... Excellent ... I'll be happy to give it to you! ... Do you want a duel? I will gladly accept, just tell me the date and time," Lord Melbourne said with anger and hatred, with the least control over his emotions that he had had in his life.  
"Not ... no, Lord Melbourne! ... Please, think of Drina! ... She needs you! It's not worth risking it ... She would die if something bad happens to you!" Baroness Lehzen pleaded with her voice broken by anguish and moist eyes.  
"Gentlemen, please! This has gone too far ... I beg you to recover your sanity," said Leopold desperate and afraid of what might happen.  
"Do you think I'm afraid of you because you're younger! I am not afraid of you! ... Enchanted I would will fight a duel with you to avenge this outrage on my honor!" Cumberland replied red with anger and trembling with emotion, with defiant look.  
Schulze tried to move but George pressed the tip of the sword to the back of his neck and a small trickle of blood gushed from the point where the sword pressed against his skin.  
"Make me happy, you damned German bastard! Give me an excuse to kill you," Lord George said in a tone that left no doubt of his intention to fulfill his threat.  
Tears of rage, impotence, and humiliation began to flow from the eyes of the arrogant Captain Schulze.  
"It would be a nice change if you tried to kill a man face to face, facing him like a man and a gentleman, instead of slicing him his neck in the bed," Lord Melbourne replied with deep contempt reminding Cumberland of the crime of which he was accused many years before.  
"I am a prince of royal blood and you are a dirty bastard! ... A miserable Viscount ... a title you have only because your mother's harlot ..." replied Cumberland, but could not continue.  
Lord Melbourne squeezed Cumberland's neck with one hand, cutting off his breath.  
"If you mention my mother again with your dirty mouth I will kill you! ... I will not tolerate you insulting Victoria or my mother! ... It will be me who will challenge you to a duel to kill you like a dog," Lord Melbourne said shaking with rage.  
"Enough, enough!" Leopold shouted desperately trying to stop what was happening.  
Lehzen rolled up her skirts and ran to another door, different from the one she had used to enter the room, and left. The men stayed, wrapped up in the violent situation.  
Cumberland shouted insults to Lord Melbourne, and Lord Melbourne responded in the same way. George was still threatening Schulze, and Leopold was trying to stop the scene.  
"Gentlemen, please! ... You are behaving like animals! ... A King, the Consort of a Queen of England and an English Lord behaving like beasts! ... I demand that you stop this madness!" Leopold shouted almost hysterically.  
But the other men ignored him and continued confronting each other until the door through which Lehzen had left, opened and a figure entered through it.  
"Gentlemen! ... What a beautiful picture! It reminds me of some of the battles I fought on the Continent," the Duke of Wellington said sarcastically and mockingly, but with a firm and authoritative tone, and the steel look he used to intimidate his troops and make them obey.  
All were frozen, bowing to the powerful presence of the old Duke ...


	15. Why do we hurt ourselves, my love?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will the violent incident with the Duke of Cumberland end? What consequences will it have for those involved? How will Victoria react when she knows what happened? The development of events will be unpredictable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "... Many years after the incident, my father was excited when he remembered the way the Duke of Wellington entered the room ... my father remembered the electrifying atmosphere that took over space where the tense events took place. My father told me that he then understood how Wellington's men felt in the war, ready to do anything, to sacrifice their lives without hesitating for a moment, before the authority emanating from that man with a firm and authoritative voice and a hard look of ice, that man who intimidated so much that it was better to face a hell of rifles and cannons, even with little hope of survival, than to dare to disobey an order of his ... " "Aunt Victoria and Uncle William: My experience in the Court of a Queen of Hearts", by Elizabeth Carrington, Chapter 5: My father was the one who broke the vase.

The Duke of Wellington walked slowly, as if measuring each step, with his old hawk gaze, but that it was still able to impose respect on the fiercest of men. Behind him emerged a small group of soldiers of the Queen's Guard, with an officer in front who by his badges should be a lieutenant. Also, Prime Minister Peel entered the room, walking alongside the guards. Baroness Lehzen was walking behind them, and from her attitude, it was clear that she had gone to look for Wellington and the guards.  
The Duke of Wellington looked around the room, looking first at Lord Melbourne, at Cumberland (Lord Melbourne stepped back from Cumberland when he saw Wellington enter) and Leopold, and then at George, who, in front to the surprise, kept pressing the sword in the neck of Captain Ludwig.  
"Lord George ... do you intend to kill that man? Not that I have something against, if that is your intention, but perhaps it would be a bit impolite with our Queen to kill someone in her Palace, and I am afraid that for you and your family would be something terrible and tragic, because of the consequences," said the Duke of Wellington in a calm voice and a certain sarcastic and mocking touch.  
"No, my desire is not to kill someone, sir ... I just wanted to protect the life of Her Majesty's Consort, who is also my friend," replied George, pulling the Captain Ludwig's sword away from the captain, and moving away from him slowly, walking a few steps back, but still holding the sword.  
"Damn co…!" exclaimed Ludwig furiously, as he jumped to his feet with an aggressive attitude.  
"Enough, sir!" roared the Duke of Wellington with a commanding voice that impressed everyone present and paralyzed Ludwig, who seemed intimidated. "As far as I know, your behaviour has been shameful tonight and you are not going to repair it now with a display of bravado! If you were one of my officers, rest assured that you would have preferred to die rather than let yourself be humiliated in such a pathetic way, that you would have fought instead of surrendering on the floor like a damn carpet ... but of course, my officers were men of truth and not cowards and knew that it was preferable to face God than my anger. It's a shame because in the wars against Napoleon the men of Hanover in the King's German Legion were among the bravest ... you, sir, would embarrass them," Wellington added with anger and deep contempt.  
Ludwig went livid, trembling with rage, his eyes wet with tears of shame and humiliation. The young soldiers of the Queen's Guard, who had grown up admiring the heroic figure of Wellington as if he were a demigod, saw him with eyes full of emotion and gestures on their faces as if they had been children again, admired before the idol of his childhood.  
"Take the German sausage from here!" Wellington ordered, addressing the guards.  
The lieutenant called by their names two soldiers who rushed to carry out Wellington's order, and they approached Ludwig and holding him by the arms they forced him to walk towards the exit.  
"You are a coward, sir! ... I demand a repair!" Ludwig yelled at George as he passed by.  
"I'll be happy to ..." George began to reply.  
"I demand that that man is expelled from the country immediately! He tried to attack me and George defended me ... if he is not expelled immediately I will present a criminal accusation against him and the scandal will be public," said Lord Melbourne in an angry tone, demanding that Ludwig be expelled from England in order to avoid a duel between the Hanoverian officer and his friend, that would put George's life in danger.  
"Robert?" Wellington asked, looking at Peel, urging him to respond to Lord Melbourne's demand.  
"Of course ... it is the minimum that can demand the Consort of the Queen before an attack on his person ... the man will be placed in the first ship that sails to a German port and meanwhile will remain under military or police custody," Peel replied.  
"This is an outrage! He is an officer of my Army and my ..." Cumberland protested angrily.  
"Sir! ... I think we have more important things to discuss than the fate of a man who has served you so badly tonight," the Duke of Wellington replied sternly.  
Cumberland saw Ludwig with a look that made the German officer shiver, realizing that his master agreed with Wellington's opinions and that did not bode well for him, on his return to Hanover. The soldiers of the Guard forced him to leave the room and when he was outside he turned around angry.  
"English cowards!" exclaimed Ludwig indignantly and humiliated.  
A guard hit him in the belly with the butt of his rifle, which made him lean in pain and out of breath.  
"Soldier Hogan!" exclaimed the lieutenant when he saw the action.  
"I'm sorry, sir ... but I felt offended" the soldier replied.  
"All right, but that will cost you a two-day penalization on your salary ... and you thank me for not being arrested," said the lieutenant.  
"Yes, sir."  
After the soldiers took Ludwig, Wellington turned to see George.  
"Lord George, would you be so kind as to leave us alone, for a moment? Do not fear for William's welfare, you are leaving him in good hands," said the Duke of Wellington kindly, with a mocking tone.  
"Of course, sir," George replied and handing the sword to the lieutenant, withdrew from the room.  
"Lieutenant, thank you for your services ... now your men and you can retire," said Wellington, addressing the officer.  
"Of course, Your Grace," said the lieutenant, and ordered his men to retreat.  
"Baroness ... you have done well. Now I ask you to ensure that we are not interrupted and have privacy in our meeting," said Wellington addressing Lehzen.  
"Of course, Your Grace," said Lehzen and with a slight inclination of the head she retired, closing the door when leaving.  
Lord Melbourne, Leopold, Cumberland, Wellington, and Peel was left alone in the room.  
"This man has attacked me cowardly, behaving like a ruffian in some London slum! ... It is an offence that I will not forgive!" cried Cumberland, wiping the blood from his nose with a handkerchief.  
"You called the Queen prostitute ... our Queen, who is also my wife ... You can commit treason and offend Victoria, but not in my presence," replied Lord Melbourne trying to look calm, but still shaking with rage and clenched the fists.  
"In this, I agree with Lord Melbourne ... you have addressed my niece, who is also your niece, in offensive and vulgar terms, unworthy of someone who presumes of to have royal blood!" Leopold exclaimed furiously.  
"Who are you two to claim me about nothing? A prince of a miserable corner of Germany that have gone up by marriage and by a filthy Revolution! ... And a cuckold viscount and ...!" Cumberland replied furiously.  
"Enough, Cumberland!" Wellington shouted angrily.  
Everyone present saw Wellington, and undoubtedly the most surprised was Cumberland.  
"Wellington, you ..." Cumberland said bewildered.  
"I have had to bite my tongue for years, but I can not do it anymore ... for years this country has had to endure you, we have had to suffer all those scandals and see how your infamous acts went unpunished ... Sir, without a doubt, your father King George did not deserve the misfortune of having a son like you," Wellington replied with deep contempt in his eyes and voice.  
"Wellington ... you forget who you talk to!" Cumberland shouted offended.  
"I know perfectly who I'm talking to, sir! And that is why I speak this way ... When will you realize that this country does not want you? You, sir, is surely the man most hated and despised by Englishmen, from the poorest to the richest ... But if you are unable to understand it, I will gladly explain it to you ... nobody in this country, in this huge island of Great Britain, is ready to replace Queen Victoria with you, before seeing you as King I prefer to see a lout delinquent, a drunkard of a disgusting pigsty or the most vulgar whore of the streets of London sitting on the Throne ... is what I think! " exclaimed the Duke of Wellington with a look of fire on Cumberland.  
Peel watched the scene open-mouthed, impressed by the vehemence of his former boss and predecessor in the leadership of the Tory Party. Leopold and Lord Melbourne were also surprised (perhaps Lord Melbourne a little less than Leopold), but soon an ironic smile appeared on Leopold's face. Cumberland was livid with anger, trembling indignantly.  
"Wellington, your insolence ...!" Cumberland yelled furiously.  
"Insolence is yours, sir! ... Your insolence to call our Queen a whore, who is also your Queen, as a British citizen ... your niece! To call Her Majesty whore in her own Palace, in front of her husband and her uncle, another Monarch, causing a shameful incident that could have humiliated this country in front the world ... But even worse than that, is the dirty and insidious campaign that you have deployed in the streets of London ... Do you think I fought on the battlefields to protect this country from Napoleon to end up sitting on the Throne to a man like you who would precipitate this country into chaos and probably cause a Revolution like the ones that hit the continent? ... Now I want you to hear me very well, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover ... in regards to you and Her Majesty the Queen, the two great parties of this country are united to support Queen Victoria against you. The Whigs and the Tories are united to unconditionally support the Queen in front of your slander and your insults ... and you should know, sir, that you have very few supporters in my party and none really important, and those few fools are not willing to sacrifice their political careers for a lost cause like yours ... am I wrong Robert?" Wellington said and finally turned to see Peel.  
"No, you are not wrong ... as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, I can guarantee that our party is united to support Queen Victoria in the face of any threat to her reign, wherever it comes from and whoever it is," said Peel seriously and solemn, in an unusually firm tone on him.  
"You are some damned bastards! ... I do not care if you all are united in your perfidy against me! You can not get rid of me ... I am a blood Prince of England, and I will do what I please to fight this indecent reign that degrades this country," replied Cumberland almost hysterically.  
"In that case we will feel free to fight your bloody and immoral reign," said Lord Melbourne intervening in the discussion and advancing towards Cumberland, who stepped back as if preparing to be attacked again, "I think you have forgotten that your Kingdom of Hanover is nothing, it's a span of land in a corner of Germany, an ant next to the British Empire ... an insignificant toy Kingdom surrounded by powerful greedy neighbors, which has only survived thanks to British commitment ... In addition, your subjects hate you passionately, since you decided to rule them as a tyrant, imposing a brutal dictatorship ... Now you imagine that Britain instead of continuing to guarantee your Throne decided to tear it down ... Imagine that the Whig and Tory Parties come together to denounce your treason to the Queen before the Parliament, that we denounce your conspiracies and let's remind the public of your old crimes ... no, it will be difficult to convince the majority of the Parliament and citizens, to declare you a contumacious traitor and an enemy of England ... I suppose that in that case, you would take refuge in your little Hanover, but that would be much better for us ..." added Lord Melbourne as he shortened the distance with Cumberland.  
Cumberland saw him with hatred, while all the other men, expectant, listened to his words.  
"We can convince the English of the need not only to persecute a traitor and enemy of the Queen but also to liberate the people of Hanover from your tyranny ... it will not be difficult to convince Prussia, your neighbor, whose expansionist desires we all know and who it would be delighted to annex Hanover, and perhaps it has not done so for fear of the British running to your aid ... Imagine that we offer your Kingdom as spoils of war to Prussia, perhaps we should not even send troops but the Prussians would do the dirty work for us," Lord Melbourne continued in a menacing tone and with some glee born of hatred.  
"Although I myself would be happy to return to action and put myself in charge of an Army for such a purpose," Wellington said with a certain sarcasm, but speaking seriously.  
"And I would be happy to join a coalition against you ... as King of Belgium would be happy to send troops from my Army, even if it is a small participation, and I am sure that my nephew Ernest would be happy to send, also, to the Coburg Army with that honorable purpose," said Leopold with malevolent pleasure.  
"You're crazy thinking about dethroning me and persecuting me! ... That's crazy! " Cumberland exclaimed with a mocking smile but his face reflected anguish.  
"Are you sure? ... What I said about the Prussians is a lie? ... And who would come to your aid? ... The Russians? The Austrians? I do not think they're going to go to war for you, they have nothing to gain and they have a lot to lose ... As for the British people, we often forget that we cut off the head of one of our Kings long before the French beheaded to Louis XVI ... Do you think that people will not celebrate the fall of a prince of the Royal House so hated and despised as you? And if you run out of your little Hanover Crown and without the British taxpayer's money, even if you escape from being prosecuted for Treason and take refuge in some corner of Europe, you will live the life of a pathetic dethroned and exiled King, of an execrated prince by his own family, without a penny, living in poverty, like a beggar ... that if a patriot of Hanover does not find you and makes you suffer the same fate suffered by the unfortunate Prince Albert, a fate that would be very fair for a criminal like you," Lord Melbourne replied with hatred.  
All present reacted surprised to see a Lord Melbourne unknown to them, one that threatened with death and destruction, one very different from the cordial, moderate and conciliatory man that everyone knew.  
"Do you threaten me with death?" Cumberland asked scandalized, but a little afraid.  
"Not necessarily ... but I tell you this ... I swear that if you do not leave my wife in peace, if you do not leave to your dirty lair in Hanover and do not step on English soil again for many years, if you do not give up on your campaigns against my wife ... this bastard viscount who speaks to you will devote all his strength, all my ability and all the influence that I have obtained in politics, to destroy you ... Day after day, without rest, I will dedicate myself to make reality all that I have said before and not I am going to rest until to see your Kingdom of Hanover devastated, your Throne in flames and see you accused of Treason by Parliament, persecuted like a common criminal, ruined and without a penny, dragging your plump and disgusting body all over the continent, living as a damn beggar and fearing to see your persecutors knock on your door to take you to jail or the gallows, or worse, to a revolutionary unloading his pistol in your heart ... I will make sure to see your wife and your son begging to survive, and your lineage extinct in the annals of Royalty ... I will make your destruction the greatest legacy of my life, I swear to you by the woman who gave birth to me, the one you called harlot," answered Lord Melbourne trembling with emotion and anger, with a look full of hate, with a harder gesture on his face, clenching his fists again.  
Cumberland went pale as if all the colour had run away from his skin.  
"Cumberland ... I support the decision and the words of Lord Melbourne ... you have played and lost, and you went too far ... Lord Melbourne speaks on behalf of all of us, and we are England ... you must leave the country, and stay away for several years until all this has been forgotten ... and of course, you must cease your attacks on the Queen ... if you do, you will keep your German Throne and your English titles, and British support and money, and your son will have something to inherit ... but if you insist on your conduct, you will face the destruction ... the life, the reputation and the Crown of our Queen Victoria will be defended to death for all of us and we will ruthlessly destroy anyone who threatens her," Wellington said in an almost solemn, very serious tone.  
"That's true, sir," said Peel.  
Cumberland felt that he had 20 years more in a minute ... he felt humiliated and defeated, and for the first time in his life he felt absolutely irrelevant.  
"I'll leave England tonight ... I've finished with this country of ungrateful and traitors," said Cumberland making an effort not to cry and he left the room, and had to lean against a wall because he felt his legs failed ... the day who understood that he had wasted his life in useless intrigues and that in fact, his time was over ...  
The rest of the men were silent after his departure, and the Duke of Wellington stared with concern and empathy at Lord Melbourne's face.  
"William ... I understand what you feel, and celebrated the vehemence with which you have defended your wife, as a man of honour... But you must calm down and not lose your mind ... hopefully, we have rid of that bad shadow of Cumberland, but we must be cautious and we all know why," said Wellington evidently referring to the situation of the origin of Victoria's pregnancy.  
"I know, Arthur ..." answered Lord Melbourne, "Robert, please, I beg you to reinforce the safety of my wife," he added addressing Peel.  
"You will not believe that Cumberland ...? Of course Lord Melbourne, I will reinforce Her Majesty's safety," answered Peel diligently.  
"Gentlemen ... I think I need to drink something to forget this unpleasant incident ... will you accompany me?" asked Leopold, his face contorted with nervous tension.  
"Of course, Your Majesty," Wellington answered.  
"I'm sorry gentlemen, I need to be a few minutes alone," Lord Melbourne said with the gesture of the face reflecting stormy feelings.  
The Duke of Wellington laid a hand on Lord Melbourne's shoulder and squeezed him affectionately, and then retreated. Peel saw Lord Melbourne and sketched something like an affectionate smile, and left behind Wellington. Leopold saw Lord Melbourne, for the first time with a look of respect, and bowed his head in a small bow, which Lord Melbourne reciprocated. Then Leopold left.  
Lord Melbourne sat in an armchair and with one hand covered his face, overwhelmed emotionally. The men had just left through the door when George entered through it.  
"William ... are you okay?" George asked worriedly.  
"No, I'm not well at all ... but I will be, as always ... But I need to be alone for a while, I beg you to understand," said Lord Melbourne somberly, with weariness in his voice.  
"Of course, William," George answered and went to turn around himself.  
"George," Lord Melbourne said turning to see his friend, while he stopped, "Thank you very much ... you are the best friend I've ever had in my life," he added with a tear escaping from one eye.  
"You're welcome ... you know I love hitting bastards with vases," George replied with a mocking smile, but his voice was broken with emotion. "I've been invited to join the gentlemen to drink, I think I'll accept the invitation."  
Sometime later Victoria was with her mother in a small room to which she had retired because her feet were sore and swollen. Victoria was nervous and angry because she had not seen Lord Melbourne for a long time, and she did not understand why her mother did not leave her, and besides, the Duchess seemed restless. Then the door opened and Lehzen entered, and Victoria noticed the intense look that both women exchanged.  
"What the hell is going on here? ... Do not tell me it's anything because I'm not stupid! ... Why have not I seen Lord M for a long time?" Victoria asked angrily.  
"Tell her ... she will find out anyway," the Duchessa said with a sigh, addressing Baroness Lehzen.  
"Your Majesty ... there was an incident ..." Lehzen answered in a voice broken by nerves.  
A few minutes later Victoria walked quickly (everything that allowed her pregnancy) and distressed in search of Lord Melbourne and Leopold, her followed by Lehzen and the Duchess. Arriving at the room that Lehzen pointed out to her, she opened the door abruptly and found Leopold, the Duke of Wellington, Peel and George sitting drinking and chatting. They all stood up when they saw her enter, and Peel, Wellington, and George made a small bow.  
"William ... Lord M, where is he?" Victoria asked trying to calm her anguish.  
"He has not met us, Drina ... I think he's still upset by what happened," said Leopold.  
"Majesty, if you allow me ... William is my best friend and I know him very well ... that's why I understand that he is upset, because never in his life had he lost control as he lost it tonight ... And also as his friend, and as a loyal subject of yours, I think it would be best for you to know what happened before you saw him ... My advice, if you allow me, ma'am, is that I briefly you explain what happened at this moment," said George, with great respect and kindness going to Victoria.  
"It's okay, Lord George," said Victoria, seeing the empathy and concern in George's eyes.  
George told briefly but with details what happened, being honest but trying not to mention the grossest expressions of Cumberland. The faces of the Duchess of Kent, Baroness Lehzen and especially of Victoria were covered with horror, anguish and indignation.  
"Scoundrel! ... He's always been a scoundrel!" exclaimed the furious Duchess of Kent, referring to Cumberland, when George finished speaking.  
"I agree with that, sister," said Leopold contemptuously.  
"Good God ... William!" exclaimed Victoria in a voice broken by emotion.  
"Your Majesty ... William had not hit anyone since we became adult men since we stopped being teenagers ... and he had never challenged anyone to duel ... even in the difficult and humiliating times of the past, he managed to maintain control about your emotions. But he hearing like that ... hearing someone insult you like that, he could not control his anger ... and if you do allow me to talk like William's friend and not like a courtier ... he lost his head, not just because you're the Queen and his wife ... but fundamentally because you are the person he has loved the most in his life," said George sincere and a little excited.  
Victoria could not avoid a small pout and some tears rolled down her cheeks, while the eyes of the Duchess and Baroness Lehzen also became wet. Peel felt uncomfortable as always when faced with an emotional expression, Wellington smiled with empathy and a little amused, and Leopold bowed his head, because to his annoyance he had to reluctantly accept that Lord Melbourne was somehow the hero of the day.  
"For my part, I apologize to Your Majesty for using violence inside your house," George added, a little embarrassed.  
"Nonsense, Lord George! I am grateful to you for acting bravely to defend my husband ... I wish to invite you to stay at the Palace tonight ... in fact extending the invitation to Sir Robert and the Duke ... I would be very pleased if you all stayed here instead of returning late at night to your houses," Victoria said excitedly.  
"Of course, I'm honoured by your invitation, Majesty," said George.  
"Well, at my age I do not know when I can accept such an invitation again ... Thank you, ma'am," said Wellington.  
"I think that will allow us to prolong our pleasant talk and perhaps play a game of cards," said Leopold.  
After leaving the men talking, Victoria went to find Lord Melbourne and Miss Skerrett informed her that the servants had told her that he had retired to his apartment, attached to the Queen's apartment and that he had requested a whiskey bottle. Victoria was anxious to meet him.  
When Victoria entered a room in Lord Melbourne's apartments that had been converted into his personal small office, she found him sitting in an armchair sipping a shot of whiskey. He stood up almost in a reflex, as in a residual habit of his previous times when he was not her husband and should remain to stand if she was. He saw her with a serious face that reflected mixed feelings, and then, he looked away and took a few steps away from Victoria, to place the glass in his hand on a small table.  
Victoria approached him, her heart racing, and she extended her arm upward and placed her small hand on Lord Melbourne's shoulder.  
"William ... are you okay? ... Please, tell me how you feel ... I am very distressed, I know what happened, my love ..." Victoria said nervous and worried for him, but at the same time eager to show her love and gratitude.  
"I'm sick of your damn family!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne with anger in the voice.  
Victoria backed away a few steps, startled and confused because Lord Melbourne had never spoken that way before her.  
"I'm sick of the damn House of Hanover, with all those bastards and petty-minded princes, who have nothing of princes, but of leeches and scoundrels have it everything ..." Lord Melbourne continued turning around and seeing Victoria with a hard look that she startled, "... A gang of ruffians who have shamed this country while they sucking thousands of pounds from our pockets ... Cumberland is the worst of all because he is even a murderer capable of prostituting his mother for power and money, but your uncles George and William they were not much better, they were scoundrels bastards, and your father was not exactly a saint ..." Lord Melbourne added in a hard and derisive tone.  
"Lord Melbourne! ... You are talking about my father ... how dare you!" exclaimed Victoria, forgetting for a moment her sweet concern for him and becoming angry at the offence to her late father.  
"How dare they be so ungrateful to this country?" exclaimed Lord Melbourne raising his voice and approaching Victoria enough so she could smell the alcoholic breath that emanated from him, and seeing up close the rage on his face, she stepped back a little more, "They are the most repulsive and indecent beings that I've known in my life, and that I've known many, because in any aristocratic room you can find many specimens of his ilk ... Yes, I'm sick of the damn House of Hanover, but much more, fed up of the damn House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ..." he added with contempt and almost disgust.  
Lord Melbourne moved a little away from her and went to get the bottle and glass for another drink, and drank it almost without breathing. Then he turned to see Victoria and his eyes almost burned.  
"A name too long and pompous for a family of fortune hunter ... the reigning family ... of what? ... Of a small, poor and insignificant principality, the most disgusting corner of Germany, a piece of cow dung in the middle of the map of Europe ..." Lord Melbourne said with deep contempt and sarcastic mockery, while Victoria listened to him with her eyes open and expression of amazement and pain in her face, because no one had ever talked about her family like that, and she never thought that it would be he who would do it, "... a family of upstarts, fortune hunters, of schemers and scoundrels, who have risen socially just because the females they are reputed to be the breeding mares of Europe and the males ... the males what? ... The fame of being useless lazies maintained by their wealthy wives?" he added with a cynical smile.  
Victoria cried while listening and put a hand to her mouth, while she did not believe what she was listening to.  
"Do you know all that I had to endure from that uncle of yours, from the damned Leopold! I have had to endure his insolence, his disparaging and humiliating treatment towards me ... towards me that I was the Prime Minister of British Government at the will of the Parliament that represents the British people! I was the Head of Government of the most powerful Empire in the world, for the confidence placed in me by the Parliament that represents its citizens, and that damn arrogant bastard of your uncle Leopold treated me almost as if I were one of his servants in Belgium … And who is he? A dirty scoundrel, a mediocre upstart, a fortune hunter whose only merit was to have seduced an innocent English princess and convinced her to marry him ... And then he had the great good fortune that a Revolution broke out in a small corner of Europe, and a group of politicians will need a King for their newly independent country, an artificial Kingdom, and as the French King's a son rejected Crown, they offered it to your uncle, as a second option and simply because he is tall and stupid enough to look well with a scrap Crown of a joke Kingdom ... but since he is such a scoundrel and has so little dignity and decency, he has continued to collect his allowance from Her Majesty's Treasury ... from your Treasury, ma'am ... but I imagine that it is normal when he coming from a family of upstarts poorer than rats ... And what of the clockwork prince Albert? " Lord Melbourne said with malignant mockery.  
"Lord M!" Victoria exclaimed scandalized and hurt.  
"The unbearable smarty, that he boasted to know more of England than me, a foolish snob, as much or more arrogant than your uncle Leopold ... always with his pretences of moral superiority, believing himself the judge of good and evil, and daring himself to judge me ... Do you think I do not know everything he said about me? Of course, behind my back, because he was not man enough to tell me to my face ... How he accused me of being insensitive to the suffering of the poor of our country ... A spoiled child who never spoke to a real poor person in his life! Why did not he whine for the poor of Coburg oppressed by his father, your uncle?... Surely, those poor people did not worry him so much ... Immature and conceited boy! A boring and insensitive being, a puppet, a mechanical dummy with a piece of ice as a heart ... A man who boasted of being so intelligent and with superior skills compared to the rest of human beings, and yet his only merit in life, his only feat, would be getting married to a rich and powerful woman to maintain him the rest of his life ..." Lord Melbourne said with bitterness and rancour.  
"Lord M ... do not be cruel! ... Poor Albert ...!" exclaimed Victoria crying, between anguished, hurt and angry.  
"Poor Albert who slept with you! ... He slept with my wife before me and left her with child!" Lord Melbourne shouted cholerically and threw the glass on the table.  
Victoria gasped, speechless with shock, as she trembled and then cried ... Lord Melbourne ran a hand over his face, rubbing it hard. Then he saw Victoria with the pain, the weariness and the anger reflected in the gesture of his face and in his eyes.  
"All my life ..." Lord Melbourne said and paused when his voice broke and he felt that he was short of breath ... then he recovered his strength, "... all my life, I have been humiliated by the women I have loved ... From my mother, the first woman I loved and surely the one who loved me the most ... but in spite of her love for me, she was the first one that embarrassed me, thanks to her as a child I knew what it was to be humiliated, insulted and despised for the cause of a woman I loved ... thanks to her I knew as a child what it was to endure to be told, to my face, that a woman I loved was a 'whore' ..." he said with his voice broken by emotion and repressing the desire to cry.  
Victoria shuddered and felt a deep pain ... pain for her and for his pain, feeling sorry for his suffering to see him broken as she had never seen him in her life.  
"I do not have to remind you of Caroline's scandal that harassed me for more than ten years and that has never really stopped persecuting me ... You have no idea of all the suffering and all the humiliation that I suffered thanks to her and the damned Byron ... And now this, again the shame and the humiliation ... Why, Victoria? ... Why all my life I have had to defend the women of my life in front of shameful accusations? ... Why always the women that I have loved have they exposed me to public derision and humiliated me? ... Why do I have to defend them against scoundrels like Cumberland who insult them and use them to hurt me and belittle my manhood? ... Why do I have to defend your honour, Victoria? ... And especially, when you really hurt me with your behaviour..." Lord Melbourne said with a gesture of anger on his face but with the eyes full of tears that he fought to retain.  
Victoria was deeply moved to see his heartbreaking suffering and took a few steps towards him.  
"Forgive me Lord M!" exclaimed Victoria extending an arm to try to touch his face with her hand.  
"No, Victoria!" Lord Melbourne exclaimed backing a couple of steps to get away from her and dodge her hand, causing her to stop, "It is not so easy ... all my life I have struggled to keep control of my emotions ... all my life I buried my pain and my shame under a mask of apparent tranquility, of serene dignity ... I have been silent, I have swallowed the tears, I have silenced the screams and the curses, I have clenched my fists to contain my anger and not lose my head ... I have endured the looks of mockery and contempt, the comments and murmurs behind me, even insults ... I used black humour and sarcasm as weapons to face contempt and hostility, I smiled when what I wanted was to hit or scream ... I used the ingenuity to hurt my enemies, to make fun of them and humiliate them in their own game, repeating again and again that it was what I had to do, that it would make me superior to my stalkers, and I would triumph and rise above them, as my mother wished ... But it has been hard ... you have no idea how hard it has been, you do not know how many times I wanted to kill Byron in the worst moment of scandal, challenge him to a duel and kill him or that he killed me ... not so much for Caroline that about her I stopped caring sooner than I expected, but for the humiliation that I had to endure and to see my poor son abandoned by his mother ... but I did not, I moved away from my the temptation of easy anger, and violence ... until today, that finally explode and I had sent to hell a lifetime of control over my emotions ... and it was for you ..."  
Lord Melbourne was silent for a moment, with his breathing agitated, while Victoria continued to cry and saw the torment in his beautiful green eyes.  
"You do not know how hard it has been for me ... to see you in Albert's arms while your uncle Leopold and the damn Albert himself was throwing salt at my wound and humiliated me, as if it was not enough humiliation and pain to see you happy and in love with him ... and then everything that has happened after his death, and find out that you ... my sweet girl, whom I had idealized, the one I thought would never make me suffer anything like what I suffered from my mother and Caro ... that you had given him your virginity ... and once again I had to fight to rationalize and control my emotions, to forgive the mistakes of ... of someone I love although it has been terribly hard, and today, that bastard has thrown me in my face what you did, has offended you and has offended me too, has humiliated me again, but it has hurt a thousand times more because it is you ... and you are everything ... Damn! ... Why! ... Look what you have done to me! ... You do not see that I am no longer myself!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne, furious but also desperate.  
"I never wanted to hurt you! ... I've asked you for forgiveness! ... If I could go back in time ...!" Victoria exclaimed, moving towards him.  
"But you can not! ... You should have thought it before going to bed with that ...!" replied Lord Melbourne more furious, approaching her.  
Victoria's slap stopped him ... her small hand had unleashed her anger and pain on her husband's face. Lord Melbourne fell silent and saw her with an intense look that reflected his inner storm, his mixed feelings. Victoria's eyes were filled with tears, and her face reflected her own pain. She could not take it anymore and be giving her back she ran out. Lord Melbourne saw her leave while tears ran down his cheeks ...  
A while later Victoria was lying on her bed, dressed only in her nightgown, crying inconsolably and pouting like a child. Baroness Lehzen and Miss Skerrett were standing beside her bed, dressed in their own sleeping clothes. Both women had helped Victoria undress and get into bed, and now they looked at her worriedly, especially Lehzen who had the expression of a mother worried about her daughter. Lehzen asked Victoria if she wanted them to send for the Queen's doctor to prescribe something for her nerves, but Victoria refused. Dash was up on the bed and seemed also worried about its mistress, and it approached Victoria to sniff and lick her.  
Suddenly the bedroom door opened and Lord Melbourne came into, to the surprise of the three women who turned to see him. He walked a few steps towards the bed, staring intently into Victoria's eyes, an anxious and timid expression on his face.  
"I ... I came to share the bed with my wife ... If, my wife does not mind sharing the bed with the stupidest husband in the world tonight ... but also the most in love and coincidentally of my own wife ... and also surely the most corny and pathetic at the time of saying ... Forgive me and ... I love you," said Lord Melbourne with an excited voice and a funny gesture on the face, between timid, sad and anxious, in a touching way that moved Victoria.  
"Well ... if Lord Melbourne wants to sleep with his wife ... it will not be his wife who prevents him," answered Victoria trying to sound calm and looking away, to preserve a trace of dignity, but with her heart racing and her skin bristling.  
The night was not over, it was just beginning ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In real life, in true History, the Kingdom of Hanover was effectively annexed by Prussia. The only legitimate son and successor of Uncle Cumberland, King George V of Hanover (who became King on the death of his father, on November 18, 1851) allied with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War and on the 29th of June 1866, two days after the decisive Battle of Langensalza, the Hanover Army (surrounded by the Prussian Army) surrendered. King George and his family fled to Austria, and Hanover was annexed by Prussia, losing its independence and disappearing as a country. Cumberland's son spent the rest of his life refusing to relinquish his rights to the Hanoverian Throne and claiming support from the European powers to restore his Kingdom by releasing it from Prussian control (German, after the Unification of Germany led by Prussia) but it was obviously unsuccessful and George died in exile. It is interesting that Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (under the reign of Ernest II, Victoria's cousin) were allied with Prussia and its small Army supported the Prussian Army and fought against the Hanoverian Army at the Battle of Langensalza. So that with which Lord Melbourne threatens Cumberland became reality a little over 25 years later, at least as far as the Prussian invasion of Hanover is concerned (although obviously without the British participation in the invasion, although the British did nothing either to avoid the conquest and annexation of the Kingdom that for over 100 years shared with Great Britain same Monarch). That's why the context of Lord M's threat is realistic, I think.


	16. The Heart of a Man.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What will come after the storm? Another intense and emotional conversation, marked by mixed emotions, will be a crucial moment that will condition the relationship between the couple.

Lehzen and Skerrett left Victoria's bedroom, Baroness Lehzen did it with some reluctance, because at that time she had mixed feelings towards Lord Melbourne, because on the one hand she was deeply grateful for the defense he had made of Victoria but on the other hand she was angry with him for making her little Drina cry. But the Baroness could not ignore Victoria's wishes and she also left.  
When Lord Melbourne and Victoria were left alone, he took off the robe he was wearing and was dressed only in a nightshirt, which he wore open showing his chest, and long underpants. Victoria tried to avoid looking at him, but she could not stop her treacherous eyes from seeing him out of the corner of her eye. She hugged Dash, and when Lord Melbourne went to bed, she whispered something in her pet's ear and let go, and the obedient dog got off the bed and placed itself on the cushion on the floor that served it as its own little bed.   
Lord Melbourne lifted the sheets and coverlet, and put his body underneath, and lay down very close to Victoria. She made an effort to stop crying, but the tears continued to flow from her beautiful blue eyes.  
"You let me?" asked Lord Melbourne and without waiting for an answer from Victoria, he stroked her cheeks with his right hand, drying her tears, "Victoria ... do you allow the damned fool of your husband to tell you a couple of stories that maybe they manage to erase those tears from your eyes and to get for him the indulgence that he does not deserve? " added Lord Melbourne in a timid way, but with a sweet and charming little smile that moved Victoria, and she nodded.  
Lord Melbourne tenderly stroked Victoria's face and was silent for a moment, while from the expression on his face seemed that his mind back to painful memories, and his eyes were wet, something that did not go unnoticed for Victoria.   
"I think I have not told you much about my mother, ma'am ..." Lord Melbourne said and the gesture of his face turned sweet, almost like the child he was, "She ... she was the most charming person who has stepped on the world, or at least the ones I've known in my life ... She was exceptional in many ways, she was lively, energetic and cheerful, she did everything with a passion for good and for bad ... And of course, she was very beautiful, one of the women most beautiful I've seen," he added.  
Victoria saw him with curiosity, very interested to hear him talk about his mother, and if it were not for the sad moments she had lived that night, she would be smiling to discover more of Lord Melbourne's past.   
"Of course, all that changed in her last years, when her death was approaching ..." Lord Melbourne continued and his voice broke a bit with emotion, "For me it was very painful to see her agonize ... to see her magnificent beauty withered by the sickness and old age, and above all, to see how vivacity and passion, even joy had fled from her soul ... And I was more moved to see that even in her agony, she only cared about my well-being ... one day, on her deathbed, very shortly before the end ... she took me by the hand and begged ... made me swear that I would never give up living ... That even if I was left alone, absolutely alone, I would continue living and would not let me die, and I would do it for her, that I would carry on for her and for her memory, for the great love she felt for me."  
Victoria saw the tears coming from Lord Melbourne's eyes and she felt his pain and caressed his face with her small hand.   
"She ... she knew why she was saying it ... Even then my marriage to Caroline had ended in practice, although we were still formally married ... and my poor mother knew that I was not inclined to marry again, even though I would be widowed, as indeed it happened. That's why she knew that when she died, I would only have my son, and my poor boy was a sick child ... that's why my mother, always foresighted, had anticipated that I could stay alone in the life, and that's why she made me swear that that case would go on ... When she died I felt a terrible pain and I felt very lonely because she had been the person who had loved me the most and who had understood me the most in my life," Lord Melbourne said with deep sadness.  
Victoria saw him and wanted to place him in her chest like a little child, to comfort him, but she did not dare to move beyond caressing him.   
"My mother was very right ... I have not told you much about my son either, Victoria. My poor Augustus was a sick boy, for want of a better word to define him ... sometimes I felt that although his body was with us in this world, his soul and his mind were in another place, in another universe. He seemed to understand no one, it seemed that he could not understand the words, and that made him lock himself more in his inner world and to be afraid of almost everyone and look 'stupid' for his behaviour, although I never liked that they used that word to refer to him ... But for me, he was a very tender boy, and I loved him ... My God, how I loved him!" Lord Melbourne said trying to contain his emotion.  
Victoria had forgotten her own suffering and now her heart was full of love and compassion for him.   
"It's true what they say, Victoria ... no father should survive a child. And because I love you, I wish you should never suffer that, Victoria ... I hope you do not have to survive a child ... The day my boy died ... as he had always been sick, I anticipated that day could come and I thought maybe it would be better for him, because if this world is already very cruel for normal people, for people like him it is much more ruthless and leaving this world would be a relief for his suffering ... I was telling myself that I should not be selfish and I had to wish for the best for him and not for me ... But the day he died, that day I went crazy with pain, that day I knew that everything I had thought was stupid in the face of that dark and heartrending feeling nailed in my heart."  
Lord Melbourne closed his eyes and placed one of his big hands on Victoria's head, stroking her hair, as if he needed to touch her to have the strength to continue.   
"I felt that everything was unreal ... that it was a nightmare, and that at any moment I was going to wake up, but it was not like that ... I endured the pain as best I could during the whole process of his funeral and his burial ... but after that his body rested in the grave, I collapsed ... I convinced my family and friends to leave, and they left me alone in my house, convincing them that I was fine and needed to be alone ... but as soon as they left I locked myself in my library and I dedicated myself to drink like a desperate one, one bottle after another ... I drank to sleep to my broken heart, to stop crying, maybe to commit suicide with alcohol," said Lord Melbourne and opened his eyes showing his green eyes full of tears and with his eyes more painful than Victoria had seen.  
"Oh, Lord M!" Victoria exclaimed making a pout and breaking to mourn inconsolably.   
"I spent the whole night and most of the next day drinking until my body could not take it anymore and I collapsed ... I'm ashamed to confess, ma'am, I was lying on the floor unconscious, next to my vomit on the carpet, and forgive me for telling you this disgusting detail ... and so I was, when George, my good friend George, kicked down the door ... Then, with the help of the servants, he put me on my feet, and I would like to tell you that he encouraged me in a sweet and affectionate way, while he hugged me ..." Lord Melbourne said and in his last words a funny and ironic smile appeared on his face, "... but actually gave me a couple of strong slaps and said: 'Son of a bitch, I bet 50 pounds that you would win the next General Election and I will not lose my money because you decided to die!' " exclaimed Lord Melbourne with a strange mixture of tenderness and amusement.  
Victoria opened her eyes wide and a gesture of scandal and surprise covered her face.   
"You make fun of me, Lord M! ... He could not tell you that! " Victoria exclaimed confused with a hint of a smile sticking out in her distressed face.  
"Ma'am ... the men we have a very clumsy and childish way, even wild and ridiculous to express affection, especially among us ... when we want to express the love for a friend of our same-sex we should sound a bit rude and idiotic, so as not to undermine our manhood ... You see, Victoria, the men we are very stupid," Lord Melbourne replied with a small mocking smile, but still crying.  
"Certainly, you all are silly and pathetic beings, I am already discovering it! " exclaimed Victoria with a funny giggle, charmingly mixed with pouting and crying.   
"The fact is that George dragged me to the bathroom and forced me to clean me ... then with more slaps and nudges nothing delicates, forced me to dress and eat ... Then he said: 'If you want to commit suicide by drinking we will do it together ... I will stay here and drink, with you, until we both burst.' And he fulfilled it, he stayed with me for days and he did not leave me alone ... he drank with me, he talked with me, he fought with me, he cried with me ... But he forced me to stay alive and so I remembered the promise that I made to my mother many years ago, and decided to fulfil it ... I decided to live, although I had lost the only reason to do it and I was absolutely alone in the world because despite having my brother, my sister and George, nothing could replace my son ... but I went ahead and dedicated myself with greater tenacity to politics, perhaps so that my mother felt proud of me, if there really is something after death, or at least to honour her memory ... But even though my political career was increasingly successful, although my effort seemed rewarded, really only wanted to die ... I confess I was very angry with God ... assuming that he exists ... and every day I challenged him to take my life ..." said Lord Melbourne had stop cry, but with infinite sadness in his face and in his voice.   
"Oh no, William! ... You should never have done that!" exclaimed Victoria horrified and suffering a lot, as if she feared that this challenge to God could condemn her beloved.  
"I know it's horrible, but it was what I felt then ... I wanted to die. But then I met you ..." Lord Melbourne said and saw her with an intense look full of love that made Victoria shudder, "... you have no idea what I felt that day of our first meeting in Kensington ... I expected to meet a bored girl, perhaps silly and conceited, a puppet of your mother and especially of Conroy, a spoiled girl and with all vices of your uncles, the previous Kings ... deep down I wanted it because that would give me an excuse to resign as Prime Minister and leader of my party, and advance my long-awaited retirement to my refuge in Brocket Hall to wait quietly for the death, contemplating my beloved rooks ... My God, what I was wrong in my expectations! " Lord Melbourne replied, excited in his last words.   
With tenderness, Lord Melbourne stroked Victoria's hair.  
"I barely saw you, I was deeply shocked ... the first thing I thought was that you had the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen in my life ... eyes like two beautiful and brilliant gems. Then I look at your beautiful lips, your cheeks ..." continued Lord Melbourne while with the index finger of his right hand he ran across the cheeks and the outline of Victoria's face, making her bristle, "... in your delicate and sweet features, of an angelic girl ... I liked everything, about your physical appearance ..."  
"Even my height? " Victoria asked charmingly, with a sweet and touching smile, and an anxious gesture on her face.   
"I have told you many times in the past, that your height does not diminish your beauty and your regal presence, but if it is not enough, perhaps it is enough for you to know that I have never wanted to possess a body, as I have desired yours ... Your little body is the body of a woman I have most wanted in my life," Lord Melbourne replied with a dark look of desire.  
Victoria shuddered and blushed, her heart racing.   
"But if only it would have been your beauty, it would only have been desire, lust ... but when you started talking, when I felt the powerful magnetism that emanated from your words and your glances ... I felt enraptured, enchanted. For the first time in a long time, I felt truly happy, and I felt that life was something more than waiting for death ... that day my darkness was mitigated by the light that you radiated. And then in each encounter, I felt more seduced by your powerful presence, born of your passionate and almost savage innocence ... and before I knew it I only lived for you, I only breathed for you, and you occupied all my thoughts and dreams ... Shortly before Coronation Ball, I questioned myself because I felt that I was falling in love with you and did not want to admit it, I did not want to admit that I was so irresponsible ... but the night of the Ball I knew it, because when you approached me when you were drunk when it seemed that you wanted me to kiss you ... I wanted to kiss you with passion, I wanted to hold you in my arms and devour your lips, and something worse ... I wanted to take you to the nearest bedroom and make love to you ... That's what I really wanted to do, and I got scared by my desire and my feelings, and I had to make a big effort to get away from you from me that night ... Since then I knew I was lost, living between the happiness of being close to you and the fear of the inevitable moment to lose you," said Lord Melbourne in a voice broken by emotion.   
Lord Melbourne stroked Victoria's chin with his fingers and played with it.   
"Since I woke up in the morning until I fell asleep at night I did not do anything but think about you ... even when I was with other women ... Because although I may cause you some grief there were some women after we know each other ... men have physical needs and we can not avoid them, especially when we feel tormented ... But every time I was with a woman I only thought of you ... every kiss, every caress, every intimate fact of the physical act between a man and a woman, I imagined that I was lavishing it to you, who was doing it on your body, and could not feel real pleasure because it was not you, until there came a time when I desisted to be with other women ... I was telling myself that I could not love you, that I did not have right to do it, that for your well-being I had to renounce you ... That's why I rejected your proposal the day you told me that you wanted to be my companion in life, even though it was the most horrible and painful thing I had ever had what to do in my life, which I regret most, even if I repeated thousands of times that it was a sacrifice for your wellbeing ... And then Prince Albert arrived ..." continued Lord Melbourne, his voice broken with emotion.   
Victoria became a little tense and the anguish returned to her face.   
"Every time I saw you with him I felt that my heart was tearing ... I felt bad, even physically ill. You do not know what it is for a man to see the woman he loves with another man, even if it is his own fault ... you feel pain, despair, anger, the jealousy drives you crazy. The day you told me you were going to marry him ... that damn day I cried like a child in my house, I'm not ashamed to confess it ... I drank and cried, like a pathetic loser, and so what the worst had not yet arrived ... I knew that the day of your wedding would be as bad for me as the day of the death of my poor son ... I imagined what it would be like to have to endure your Wedding Night, to live that night knowing that you would be with him, in his arms, in your bed ... I'm sure that night I would have drunk until I faint like the day of my son's death, and maybe even George could not have put me on my feet this time ... And later it would be worse than I was after the death of my boy, waiting for death, with much greater anxiety, because if I would lose you, would lose my last reason to live."   
Victoria cried and pouted, and tried to speak, but the words drowned in her throat. She could only put one of her small hands on Lord Melbourne's face and he took it and kissed it tenderly.   
"Is it so hard to understand? I love you beyond what is healthy, I love you until to lose my mind, so losing you is to lose my life ... Then the tragedy happened, and although I swear I was not happy about Albert's death, it would be hypocritical not to recognize that I felt a little relief to know that you would no longer marry him, but later ... well, I found out what happened ... I have no justification for the things I told you today, I do not expect you to forgive me because I do not deserve it, but ... I would like you understood because I said it ... I have felt a lot of pain and I have felt tormented thinking about what happened between you and Albert ... the same torment that your Wedding Night I would have felt, had it occurred ... Imagining you in the arms of another man drives me crazy pain, are thoughts that I can not get out of my head, to imagine another man touching your body ... not only jealousy, Victoria, is ... to think you love another, and you can not love me," added Lord Melbourne, weak, emotionally vulnerable.   
"But ... you know that I love you ... I've explained what happened, and I'm ashamed, I regret it, but ... you can be sure of my love ... I love you!" Victoria replied desperate and excited.   
"I believe you, Victoria, and if someone should ask for forgiveness, it's me ... I have no excuses because if there is someone I do not want to hurt is you ... You are what I love most in this life, and that is why I blame myself having caused you suffering ... But I expected you to understand what I feel, and knowing the darkness that shelters my soul you could forgive me ... That's why I have stripped my soul before you, as I have not done it in front of anyone ... I have never revealed my most intimate feelings, and if I have done it is because I want you to know that you are the woman I have loved most in my life and surely the last one I will love, even if I live many more years ... Once I told you that the greatest and most genuine pain can only be caused for the people we really love, and it's true ... in the world only you have the power to cause me the greatest pain, and tonight I caused you great pain because I am the man you love ... The question would be: why do we hurt ourselves, my love? ... Above all, it is better to take the time and we love each other," Lord Melbourne said sweetly and then approached Victoria and began to kiss her on the lips, softly.   
Victoria placed one of her small hands on Lord Melbourne's hair and pulled his head closer to her, and responded enthusiastically to his kiss. The kiss deepened, became more passionate, and he stuck his tongue into her mouth, and Victoria rubbed her tongue with his. Lord Melbourne devoured Victoria's mouth with hunger, with deep longing. With his right hand, Lord Melbourne walked Victoria's body, over the fabric of the nightgown and fell on one of her breasts, causing Victoria to startle up and break the kiss in surprise.   
"Do you allow me, ma'am?" Lord Melbourne asked with a mixture of desire and sweetness, with a certain mocking touch.   
Victoria nodded, and he stroked her breast on the fabric of her nightgown. After a few moments, Lord Melbourne put his hand inside her nightgown, to grab her bare breast. He squeezed her breast and massaged it, making Victoria shudder again as her skin bristled. Then Lord Melbourne moved the fabric of the nightgown a little and undressed the breast of Victoria that he was caressing, to contemplate it with a lustful look.  
"That beautiful!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne with a lustful look.   
Slowly Lord Melbourne brought his mouth to Victoria's breast that he had caressed and he kissed it. Then he opened his lips and put the breast nipple in his mouth, and began to suck it, slowly at first, then with a little more speed. With his tongue licked the nipple, with slow movements, delighting with each lick, while Victoria closed her eyes and a gesture of pleasure covered her face.  
After a moment nursing and stroking her breast, Lord Melbourne slid his hand over Victoria's belly, over the fabric of the nightgown.  
"I'm horrible, Lord M! ... I'm so fat!" exclaimed Victoria embarrassed as if she apologizes to him.  
"Do not be silly, my beloved girl! Your body is beautiful and your motherhood only makes it sweet," replied Lord Melbourne with a warm smile.   
The hands of Lord Melbourne sought the hem of Victoria's nightgown and began to raise it a little. She put her hand on Lord Melbourne's arm.  
"Lord M ... can we do this with ...?" Victoria asked and blushed a lot.  
"Do you trust me?" Lord Melbourne asked charmingly and she nodded, "Turn around and lie with your back to me."  
Victoria obeyed submissively and turning her back to him she lay on her side on her left side. Almost immediately, Lord Melbourne lifted her nightgown and Victoria shuddered again when she knew that her buttocks were naked in sight of him.  
"Open your legs for me, Victoria ... and keep them open," he said hoarsely, full of desire.  
She obeyed him, and Lord Melbourne introduced his hand from behind into the space created by Victoria's open legs and looked for her vagina. With his open hand, he stroked the thick pubic hair that covered Victoria's crotch, and her body trembled.   
With his fingers, Lord Melbourne toured Victoria's vaginal lips, tracing a path along the entrance of her intimate cavity. Gently, with delight, the tips of his fingers rubbed and played with those edges of Victoria's vaginal lips, which she gasped excitedly.  
"You do not know how many times I've dreamed of doing this, Victoria," Lord Melbourne said with lust and seductive tone.  
Then, carefully and slowly, Lord Melbourne introduced the middle finger inside Victoria ... she uttered a moan and with one hand clung to the pillow, feeling for the first time inside her the fingers of a man ...  
Lord Melbourne delved into Victoria's vaginal cavity, gently at first, letting her get used to the intimate contact of his finger. Then he did it with more passion, and also introduced the index finger, and used both fingers as if they were a hook. And fumbled until both fingers touched Victoria's clitoris ...  
"Oh my God!" Victoria exclaimed in a moan of pleasure, and she bit her hand a bit, so as not to scream.   
Lord Melbourne caressed and rubbed Victoria's tender hood with his fingers, with the experience of a very experienced lover. For a few minutes, he devoted himself to stimulating the most sensitive point of Victoria's sex, making her tremble and gasp with pleasure. Victoria's intimate cavity secreted moisture, the fluids born of her sexual arousal, and wet Lord Melbourne's fingers that kept stimulating his wife's clitoris, as the most pleasurable of tasks he could do with his hands.  
Then Lord Melbourne pulled his fingers out of Victoria's inside and brought them to his mouth, and sucked them, while Victoria turned her head a little to see him.  
"Your female's taste is the most divine of nectars, Victoria," said Lord Melbourne with an almost perverse tone, and those words and that tone made Victoria crazy, with excitement.   
Victoria noticed that he was getting undressed and his excitement increased. Then Lord Melbourne grabbed Victoria's right leg and made her lift her up, and he placed his own leg inside the open space between Victoria's legs. He skillfully placed Victoria in the proper position and then placed his big, thick cock at the entrance of Victoria's vagina, and he pushed, penetrating her from behind ...  
"Oh, God!" Victoria exclaimed almost in a cry, when feeling filled completely by him, with her intimate cavity invaded by such a large intruder.  
Lord Melbourne felt his cock pressed into a very narrow cavity, having the pleasant sensation of having impaled her completely.  
"My God, Victoria ... you're so closed, it feels so hot and narrow ... I love it," whispered Lord Melbourne in her ear.   
Thus, they lie on their side, while Victoria had her back to him, Lord Melbourne penetrated her from behind, with a rhythmic movement of hips, backing and pushing, pulling a bit of his cock and introducing it in completely again. At first with slowness, then with more strength and speed, until finally it was an energetic and passionate movement, fucking her with anxiety, with animal hunger.  
Every time Lord Melbourne lunged inside her and filled her completely, Victoria uttered a moan, a lament of pleasure, almost a howl. Victoria forgot to contain her reactions and as she felt the sensation of pleasure that emanated from that hot pain produced by the invasion of her intimate cavity, she abandoned herself to the intoxicating madness of pleasure and lost control of her body.  
With his hands, Lord Melbourne caressed and squeezed Victoria's breasts, which had been left out of her nightgown, and also caressed Victoria's bulging belly on the fabric of her nightgown.   
"How can you think that I will not want your body sometime? For me you are the most desirable woman, I would like to make love to you thousands of times ... I want to be inside your body forever," Lord Melbourne whispered to Victoria.  
Lord Melbourne made Victoria turn her head and kissed his lips, and he continued to make love to her, penetrating her with frenzy.  
While both continued to love each other in the bed, behind the bedroom door a different scene developed ...  
Inside the Queen's apartments, some distance from the bedroom door, Baroness Lehzen, Victoria's mother, and Miss Skerrett walked dressed in their nightgowns and robes, barefoot.  
"It really is absurd, Baroness ... do you really think Lord Melbourne capable of physically mistreating Drina?" said the bored, sceptical Duchess.  
"In principle not ... but so this night he acted so unusual and violent, and was so upset," Lehzen replied worriedly.  
"And why on earth, do we walk barefoot?" the Duchess asked.   
"I already explained, Your Highness ... is to not make noise," Lehzen replied.  
As they approached the bedroom door, the three women each put an ear to the door and listened to the sounds that came from inside the bedroom. Miss Skerrett had to cover her mouth to contain the urge to laugh, and the Duchess made a malicious and mocking gesture on her face. Only Lehzen looked distraught and went to knock on the door with her hand, but the Duchess grabbed her hand and gestured with her finger to silence her. Then she motioned for her to follow her and the three women walked away from the bedroom to a safe distance so as not to be heard.  
"Baroness ... those sounds are the normal moans that a woman emits when she has physical intimacy with her husband," the Duchess said seriously.  
"That means that…?" Lehzen asked surprised.  
"Yes, Baroness ... I know you do not understand it as being an old maid, but stay calm, because that only means that Drina is enjoying her married life, and it's about time. Now I hope that the next time I hear such noises in Drina's bedroom, do not run to get me out of my bed and make me walk from one wing of the Palace to the other," replied the Duchess, "I would like a man to tear those screams from me!" added the Duchess in a low voice so that Lehzen could not hear her and turned her back to return to her bedroom, leaving a Lehzen embarrassed and bewildered, and a Miss Skerrett holding back the urge to laugh.   
Meanwhile, inside the bedroom, Lord Melbourne kept lashing out without getting tired and Victoria was approaching the climax until finally she broke down and felt an indescribable sense of pleasure. Lord Melbourne clung to a Victoria's breast, squeezing and pinching her nipple, and then thrust three strong thrusts inside her and finally finished, releasing his cum inside Victoria's body. Victoria turned her head and both kissed tenderly, satisfied.  
The next day they both woke up in the spoon position, with Lord Melbourne behind Victoria, hugging her and letting his arm rest on Victoria's belly, with Lord Melbourne's crotch leaning against Victoria's ass. Both were wrapped in sheets and a blanket, and they slept peacefully reflecting on their faces the happiness and satisfaction produced by their night of pleasure.   
Then knocks were heard at the door and both woke with a start, and they saw each other for a few moments and smiled sweetly. Lehzen insisted on her call and Victoria granted permission to enter, and the Baroness entered followed by Skerrett. Both the Baroness and Skerrett were blushing, but while Miss Skerrett had a small amused smile, Lehzen was clearly uncomfortable.  
"Excuse me, Your Majesty ... Lord Melbourne ... but it is already late and I remind you that there are guests who expect to have breakfast with you, like the Duke of Wellington and King Leopold," said Lehzen seeing Victoria with half-closed eyes, and her head crouched as if she were ashamed to see Victoria and Lord Melbourne together in bed.  
"Of course, Lehzen ... we'll get dressed to go down," Victoria replied kindly and a little shame in front the woman who was like her mother.   
"I think I must go back to my apartments to clean up and get dressed," said Lord Melbourne also in a timid and somewhat uncomfortable way, "Baroness ... could you reach that thing to me?" he said pointing to some clothes that were on the floor.  
Lehzen bent down to take them, but then she realized that Lord Melbourne's underpants were on the robe and the Baroness's horror gesture was a poem ... Victoria raised her head to see that it had provoked that reaction in her beloved Lehzen, and when she saw it, she had to hide her face in her pillow while laughing and laughing. Lord Melbourne felt very embarrassed ...  
"Excuse me, Lord Melbourne ... it would be better to wait outside," Lehzen said and without picking up the clothes, she left almost fleeing the bedroom.  
Holding back the laughter, Miss Skerrett bent down and picked up Lord Melbourne's dressing gown and underpants and handed them to him.  
"Thank you, Miss Skerrett," said Lord Melbourne, stopping his own urge to laugh.  
"You're welcome, Lord Melbourne ... I'll retire so you can get dressed ... With your permission, Your Majesty," Skerrett replied.   
Victoria pulled her head out of the pillow and nodded, still laughing, and Skerrett retreated.  
Then Victoria and Lord Melbourne exchanged a look, and they both laughed. After a couple of minutes, both kissed passionately on the lips. After breaking the kiss, Lord Melbourne left the bed totally naked, and Victoria covered her eyes while laughing nervously. But immediately she withdrew her hands from her eyes and saw him with a malicious and mischievous look.  
Lord Melbourne put on his underpants and then his robe, and picked up his nightshirt and carried it under his arm. He approached Victoria and kissed her again.  
"Later we can arrange for them to bring my things, to sleep with you every night," said Lord Melbourne in a happy and charming way.   
"Of course ... nothing will make me happier, William," Victoria replied excitedly and kissed him again.  
Lord Melbourne withdrew and Victoria saw Dash watching her. She called the dog and the animal climbed onto the bed and jumped into the arms of his mistress, and the dog licked face's her.  
"Dashy ... your Mama is so happy!" Victoria exclaimed hugging him.  
Lord Melbourne whistled a song as he entered his own bedroom, and for the first time in a long time, the real happiness settled between them ...


	17. Breakfast at the Palace, the Metaphor of the Wolves and a red Epilogue.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do Victoria and Lord Melbourne live the day after their night of passion? In a breakfast at the Palace, the couple in love will reunite with relatives of her, some friends and political allies. Meanwhile, the threads of politics continue to weave their plots with a tragic collateral damage.

Lord Melbourne could not remember the last time he had felt so happy and encouraged to embark on a new day. Surely it had been from the time before the appearance of the late Albert in the Court of Victoria, in the happy times when he and Victoria were alone, side by side. But his happiness was now so immense, that the happiness he felt at that time when he and Victoria were only friends (in which their mutual romantic attraction should be stifled by duty) was a pale reflection of what he now felt.  
He had to make an effort not to cut himself while shaving, because his mind was far away, absorbed by the exciting memories of the night of passion he had lived with Victoria. He felt like a teenager, like the happy Brocket Hall kid he had been long before Caro entered his life. A couple of times he laughed at his own nonsense, thinking sarcastically how an older man could become so childish when he fell in love with a girl much younger than him. But blessed nonsense!  
Sometime later, already clean, groomed and dressed in one of his elegant suits, he walked to the dining room where the others were already waiting. There he joined George, Wellington, Leopold, Peel and Victoria's mother.  
Lord Melbourne took a seat next to the Duchess, having on his other side the empty chair that presided over the table and waiting for Victoria, who had not yet joined the group waiting for her for breakfast.  
"Lord Melbourne, how are you today?" Victoria's mother asked with a curious and malicious look.  
"Very well, thanks for asking, ma'am ... In fact, I feel very encouraged this morning," answered Lord Melbourne sincere, with joy and a certain mischief reflected in his eyes.  
"I'm happy, Lord Melbourne ... after yesterday's terrible event I'm glad you're happy and encouraged. It is time for us to have some happiness in this house. And above all, I want you and Drina to have a happy marriage, it is my greatest wish, Lord Melbourne," said the Duchess in a low tone so that only Lord Melbourne could hear her, with affection and sincerity in her last words.  
"Thank you very much, Duchess, really," Lord Melbourne replied, also sincere and affectionate.  
The Duchess smiled and then stopped seeing Lord Melbourne for a moment, to drink a glass of water. Then her face lit up as if she had had an idea.  
"You know, Lord Melbourne ... last night I had a strange dream," said the Duchess trying to sound serious and indifferent.  
"Really? I'm curious to meet it," replied Lord Melbourne kindly and with some curiosity.  
"Well, I dreamed of wolves ... they were in a forest similar to those I used to walk with my family, in my beloved Coburg, during my childhood. The fact is that there was a young female wolf ... you do not ask me how I knew she was a female and also very young, but I knew it ... And the young wolf was howling very restless as if she was in heat ... and suddenly an old wolf appeared, a male, a very beautiful and strong stallion, and mated with her ..." said the Duchess with a mocking smile and mischievous look.  
Lord Melbourne choked on the glass of water he was drinking at that moment and coughed loudly, drawing the attention of the other diners who were at the table. After a few moments he regained his breath and the others returned to chat with each other, while the Duchess smiled amusedly.  
"In my dream, the wolf howled while the male mated with her, but this time it was a different howl, call me foolish, but I think it was a howl of pleasure ... And when the male finished and retired from her, that beautiful and young female rolled over herself and lay on her back, and I swear that in her snout had a smile of satisfaction and pleasure ... In short, a very strange dream, but you already know us the Germans we are quirky persons with very strange dreams, my dear Lord Melbourne," added the Duchess with a certain sensual and mocking tone, while drinking some more water.  
Lord Melbourne stared at that woman who until recently seemed so detestable, a true bitter and selfish witch, and suddenly saw her with another light, as if she were a different person. And he was surprised to see that he was beginning to feel sympathy for her, and he could not help but smile.  
"Now I've discovered something of your late husband, of Victoria's father ... I think he was a very lucky man at the end of his life and he had a lot of fun in your company, ma'am," said Lord Melbourne, affectionate and amused, a little playful.  
"Do you believe, Lord Melbourne? Maybe it's an effect I have on men and that my daughter has inherited," the Duchess replied with some coquettishness, as if she were flirting with her son-in-law, but with a playful touch, like the one used with a platonic friend, "I think the old wolves, both females and males, we have a talent for love and pleasure born of experience and hundreds of battles in those slippery terrains, a talent that young wolves in heat can appreciate very well."  
They both laughed, mischievously and with some complicity, as if they were old friends. Leopold interrupted his conversation with George to see his sister so cheerful and friendly with Lord Melbourne, and raised an eyebrow and outlined a gesture of surprise and bitter resignation. Definitely, fate had mocked him and his plans, condemning him to see how even his sister succumbed to the charm of that annoying Lord Melbourne who instead of leaving their lives had settled forever in them. Now, the hope of saving even a small part of his plans and his ambitions depended on something as unpredictable (and superfluous in normal families) as the sex of the unborn child ...  
In that situation, they found themselves when Victoria entered the dining room, with all her majestic natural dignity, but perhaps a little more quickly than usual, as if she came with a slight delay to a date. Everyone stood up as the Queen entered the dining room, as dictated by protocol. As soon as she entered, the eyes of Victoria and Lord Melbourne crossed and Victoria's cheeks turned red as tomatoes while her heart was pounding. The charming smile and the look of love that Lord Melbourne directed his wife, made Victoria feel hot inside her body and her skin bristled, while she outlined a sweet smile and a puppy-like look.  
"Good morning everyone ... Mama, Uncle Leopold, Duke, Sir Robert, Lord George," Victoria said trying to calm down and not sound excited and anxious as she felt after the night of love with her husband, "Lord M ..." she added shy and flushed when seeing her husband.  
"I think we already said hello, ma'am ... one of the advantages of being the Queen's Consort," said Lord Melbourne, looking at her with a look of desire and a mischievous smile.  
"Certainly, William," Victoria replied, feeling again that her heart was racing, and a little embarrassed to see her mother giggle, and then she turned to see Baroness Lehzen arriving in a hurry after lingering a little to give instructions to a maid, "Dear Lehzen, take a seat ... I have made you all wait for quite some time."  
Victoria sat down and everyone else did after her.  
"And if you allow me to say it, Victoria ... having the privilege of sharing the night and waking up with you, makes me feel the happiest and most fortunate man in the world. Nothing has given me more pleasure than to wake up with you in my arms," Lord Melbourne whispered in Victoria's ear, in a serious, virile and sensual voice.  
Victoria's eyes gleamed and she was so happy and excited that she wanted to get up from the table and return with Lord Melbourne to the bedroom. But the servants began to serve breakfast and soon a lively talk involved everyone.  
Victoria often saw Lord Melbourne while he talked with the other diners and marvelled at how different he was on social occasions as he was in the privacy of the bed. That happy man, sarcastic and charming but correct with the protocol, that man dressed impeccably, was another very different when he made love to her, displaying his virility shamelessly, showing his lust, behaving like a strong and well-endowed male, hungry for desire. Now that she saw him, as she had seen him so many times before dressed elegantly, she could only remember him as she had seen him in the night and on waking, totally naked like a magnificent savage, like a stallion ...  
Victoria had to calm down and remember that she was in public. But the wonderful and hot new feeling that she felt in her crotch, in her sex, shouted that she wanted to feel him inside her again very soon ... And she smiled amused at the thought that this was what the females of all species should feel when they were in heat.  
"Let us hope that this infamous man will listen to reasons and cease his embarrassing acts, that he will stop attacking my niece," said Leopold in a serious and disgusted tone, referring to Cumberland.  
Victoria thought that only Uncle Leopold was able to make the atmosphere tense and break her reverie of lustful pleasure, and with a sigh, she recognized inside her mind that what Lord Melbourne had said about her uncles in her outburst of anger was totally true, and maybe he had fallen short ...  
"Well, if that's the case, we always have George ready to hit anyone who needs to hit," said Lord Melbourne, who had seen his wife out of the corner of his eye, and with a joke, he wanted to relax the atmosphere so as not to spoil her happiness.  
Victoria smiled, as did the rest of the diners with the exception of Leopold who frowned.  
"For that, I am not necessary, my dear William ... I remind you that you gave the first blow and that once you have made the decision to fight you are much more enthusiastic than me, in fact, that was the way it was in our youth", replied George mocking, challenging to his friend at his own game.  
"Yes, but I do not have as much merit as you ... for my shame, I must admit that I faced a man older than me, while you faced not only a man younger than you but also military ... And he was willing to challenge you to duel and I'm sure you would have accepted the challenge," replied Lord Melbourne following that game in which each underestimated his own merits and exalted that of his friend, but in which both ultimately boasted of virility, as a friendly game between young males, which made Victoria smile.  
"Well, I would have had no choice but to accept the challenge ... what would you expect me to do?" replied smiling George, but speaking seriously and sincerely.  
"I do not know ... maybe to think that you could leave your little children orphans?" Lord Melbourne replied in a tone of affectionate reproach.  
"I think you underestimate my capacity in a duel, William," said George mockingly, with a funny disdain.  
"Of course, the man says that in a simple military training he nailed me a bayonet by mistake," Lord Melbourne replied sarcastically.  
"Honestly William, I never imagined seeing you hit anyone, I'm used to seeing you as a conciliatory man, even too much to be a politician. But I like to see you can shake a bastard like that ... maybe you would be been a good soldier after all," said the Duke of Wellington a bit mocking and sarcastic.  
"Don't doubt it, Your Grace, although William criticizes me, he was very willing to fight a duel with Cumberland ... He told it to his face without hesitation and I'm sure he was serious ... no, William?" said George sincere and a bit funny.  
"I'm glad that did not happen, just thinking about it filled me with anguish ... William, you have to promise me that you'll never do such a thing again, you should not unnecessarily put yourself at risk," said Victoria a little anxious and worried.  
"Don't worry, Victoria. I will not ..." replied Lord Melbourne, giving his wife a warm look, "as long as nobody dares to offend you or hurt you in my presence," he added lowering his voice so that only she could hear him and then looking away towards the plate.  
Victoria was moved and excited, and she thought if it would be a sin, to wish that at that moment her husband would raise her skirt and he possess her on the dining room table.  
"Well, putting aside the gallant gestures of knights-errant, we must be practical and prepare ourselves, if that scoundrel is not intimidated by threats," said Leopold, arrogant and ill-humoured.  
"Sir, I've had to deal with Cumberland for many more years and worse than you ..." Wellington said calmly and firmly. "Do not forget that I was Prime Minister in the most scandalous and turbulent times of that scoundrel Cumberland life, and I know the old fox well ... certainly, he is a dangerous man but he is also a devious coward who only attacks treacherously and knowing that his life and privileges are not at risk ... he is capable of attacking in a fit of rage, and from there those crimes come that are attributed to him, but when he is scared he recoils and hides his head like the ostrich ... I think the threat of losing everything may force him to give up his nonsense, but of course we must stay alert and not allow ourselves to be caught unawares," he added.  
"In any case, we certainly have to prepare for the worst, expecting the best to happen ... I will start working so that we are able to comply with what I threatened Cumberland if necessary, I will not leave anything to chance to ensure that that man leaves Victoria in peace," said Lord Melbourne, decided.  
Victoria felt her heart speed up ... 'Did I mention that I wanted he raise my skirt and possess me on the table?' seemed to say a voice inside her mind.  
"Gentlemen, I am deeply grateful for your love and your loyalty to me, and I am moved and proud of your gentlemanly gestures ... But Cumberland must also know that he does not face a helpless girl but the legitimate monarch of proud British Empire. If necessary, he will prove that I am more worthy heir to my grandfather George than him, that he is a disgrace to his father and our lineage. If he wants my enmity, he will have it, and I will do everything possible to help mobilize the Nation against him. We will see if there are choices between him and me, the British people prefer him to me. ... and see if the British will go to war against him happy if I ask them ... And he will also see who has more influence in the Courts of Europe, the Queen of the British Empire or the Petty King of Hanover, who of the two is more important to the King of France, the Tsar of Russia, the Queen of Spain, the King of Prussia or the Emperor of Austria ... No, my uncle Cumberland is going to find out that I am not a helpless girl, but an enemy that should be afraid," said Victoria becoming a different person, a whole Queen who squandered solemnity, dignity and courage, and at that moment it would have been difficult to differentiate her from the image that history had built of her distant predecessor, Elizabeth I.  
Everyone saw her with respect, none thought it was a bravado of an immature girl emboldened by her Throne, but it was the way of speaking of a formal Head of State, of a constitutional Monarch, whose power lay precisely in the influence that her image could project on her subjects. Lord Melbourne also saw her with pride, the pride with which a man saw the woman he loved and a mentor to his outstanding disciple.  
Sometime later, near the end of breakfast, Lord Melbourne told Victoria that he was going to accompany George to the city.  
"And will it take a long time?" Victoria asked a little anxious and upset, "I expected to spend all day with you."  
"I have to make some very important negotiations, which are necessary for everyone, especially for you, and that I will explain you later ... And you should also take advantage to hold a working audience with Peel. But believe me, I will also be anxious to get back to you, and I promise you that you will have me all day tomorrow," said Lord Melbourne almost whispering and with an intense look of desire, that shook Victoria.  
After breakfast, George, Lord Melbourne and Victoria walked happily in the direction of the exit of the Palace.  
"Lord George, I would love to thank you for what you did for my husband with a personal gesture," Victoria said smiling as she walked on the arm of Lord Melbourne.  
"I thank you, ma'am ... but William is my brother and I would do anything for him without expecting anything in return," George answered cheerfully.  
"But perhaps there is a very beautiful gesture you can do for him ... George has a daughter, a beautiful, sweet and intelligent girl who is a great admirer of you, who feels a special devotion for Queen Victoria ... and I think for her to know you in person it would be the greatest dream of her short life," said Lord Melbourne cheerfully.  
"Really? She must be a lovely girl! ... Of course, I want to meet her!" exclaimed Victoria enchanted.  
"Majesty, I ... thank you very much!" exclaimed George excitedly and with wet eyes.  
"Excuse me, George, I'm going to say goodbye in private to my dear wife," said Lord Melbourne with a wink.  
"Of course, with your permission, Your Majesty," George said smiling and with an accomplice gesture.  
"Of course, Lord George ... but, Lord M, what ...?" Victoria said a little confused and funny.  
Lord Melbourne took her by the arm and opening a door, he entered with her into a small room nearby. Then he closed the door, and he put Victoria back against the door and taking Victoria's small hands with his big hands made her stretch her arms up and ducked his head and kissed her passionately on the lips.  
The kiss lasted as Lord Melbourne devoured Victoria's small mouth, nibbled on her lips and thrust his tongue into his wife's mouth, while she corresponded with her little tongue. Lord Melbourne held her immobilized against the door, kissing her, with Victoria's bulging belly creating some space between them. Finally, Lord Melbourne broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Victoria's forehead.  
"You do not know how hard it is to control me ... when we were sitting at the table I just wanted to lift your skirt and make you mine on the dinner table," Lord Melbourne said in his deep voice full of lustful virility.  
"You too!" exclaimed Victoria excited and surprised.  
"You wanted me to make love to you on the table? My wicked little girl!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne and both burst into laughter, and then kissed on their lips again, "God! I would like to take you right now to the bedroom, take off all your clothes and go inside you again and again, and make love to you until I'm exhausted," he added later.  
Lord Melbourne put his hands on Victoria's bodice and squeezed gently, making Victoria gasp. Lord Melbourne saw with lust the neckline of his wife's dress.  
"One of the advantages, that you are with child, is that your breasts grow a lot ... and that makes them more appetizing to taste them with my mouth and caress them with my hands," Lord Melbourne said with malice.  
"Oh, Lord M! I can not wait," Victoria replied horny, and almost crying with desire.  
"Believe me, my love, for me it is more difficult!" exclaimed Lord Melbourne feeling the painful erection of his cock visible in the crotch of his pants, "But tonight ... you will be all mine, you will be my young female wolf in heat and I will be your stallion, your old and beautiful wolf eager to mate with you," added with a mocking smile.  
"Wolves! What are you talking about, Lord M?" Victoria replied laughing.  
"It does not matter, later I explain you ... you should only know that tonight, I'm going to make you howl ... you will howl at the moon like a wolf while I possess you, while I enter your body and make love to you while my hands squeeze your nonstop breasts ... I want to make you mine until I'm out of breath," Lord Melbourne said with desire and kissed her again with passion.  
A few minutes later, Lord Melbourne and George were at the bottom of the staircase that led to the front door of the Palace, and Lord Melbourne laughed at the mischievous and mocking eyes of his friend George.  
"What's the matter, George?" Lord Melbourne asked funny.  
"Nothing, just thinking about how much a man changes when he is happily in love, undergoes an incredible transformation, a transfiguration ... and what is the man in love doing today?" said George funny and mocking.  
"The first thing I have to do is visit the Prussian Embassy, I must extend an invitation to the Ambassador, an old acquaintance of mine," Lord Melbourne replied with a dark, determined and intriguing gesture on his face.  
More than a week later, at his Royal Palace in Hanover, Uncle Cumberland waited impatiently in his Throne Room (which looked ridiculous in comparison to Victoria's Throne Room at Buckingham Palace). Suddenly the door opened and a tall, thin man with grey hair and elegant appearance entered. He was the British Ambassador in Hanover.  
"I came as quickly as possible, Your Majesty, I ..." said the ambassador in a friendly tone.  
"And even so, you are retarded to my call!" Cumberland exclaimed with disdain and fury, without showing the respect that a Head of State should show for a foreign ambassador, behaving rather as he was doing in Britain with Crown officials, being a member of the British Royal Family, "Anyway let's not waste any more time ... I guess you are informed of movements of troops of the Prussian Army near the border with Hanover," added Cumberland.  
"Well, I've heard something, but I've barely had time to study the reports well, sir," replied the ambassador, hiding behind his cold and serene diplomat mask the contempt he felt for Cumberland and the extensive and detailed knowledge he had of those movements.  
"Well, you should be better informed! My agents have informed me that they are movements of large contingents of troops, involving many men and abundant war material, and the worst thing is that they were clearly making essays of an invasion of Hanover ... This is an intolerable threat to my Kingdom!" Cumberland exclaimed furiously.  
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but I'm a little confused ... should not you have summoned the Prussian Ambassador to demand explanations and file a formal protest?" replied the ambassador, hiding the sarcasm and, above all, the pleasure of the fear he saw in Cumberland.  
"You are a…!" exclaimed Cumberland repressing the insult he was going to say to the ambassador, "That can wait, here the important thing is to know what England intends to do ... what does the Peel government intend to do in the face of this threat?" he added.  
"Excuse me, Majesty ... should I understand that you are asking that Her Majesty's Government intervene in a conflict between Prussia and Hanover?" the ambassador asked with an expressionless gesture and a tone of cold courtesy.  
Cumberland's face was covered with surprise and anger.  
"Of course! ... Do I have to remind you of the British commitment to Hanover? A commitment that has existed for more than 100 years when an Elector of Hanover left this country to occupy the British Throne! One of my ancestors and of my niece Victoria ... Should I instruct a British ambassador in Hanover about it? ... So low has the quality of the British Foreign Affairs officials fallen?" Cumberland replied wrathfully.  
"Yes, the British commitment to Hanover ..." the ambassador said, reflectively, ignoring Cumberland's insult, "Well, Majesty, that issue has been discussed recently in Sir Robert's Cabinet and I must tell you that this commitment is being reconsidered, considering that already the Crowns of Great Britain and Hanover are not lodged in the head of the same person," added the ambassador.  
"Are you implying that the British Crown would allow a Prussian invasion of Hanover without intervening militarily?" Cumberland asked standing up, indignant.  
"There is no decision about it, Majesty ... I'm just saying that Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel and members of his Cabinet are considering all points of view on this ... But do not worry, we can ask Lord Melbourne to intercede with the Prussians," said the ambassador calmly but with a twinkle in his eyes.  
"Lord Melbourne!" exclaimed Cumberland impacted.  
"Yes, the Consort of our Queen has a fluid relationship with the Prussian Ambassador in London and in recent days has invited him to dine with him and Her Majesty the Queen several times ... besides Lord Melbourne exchanges letters with Carl Friedrich Heinrich von Wylich und Lottum, which as you know is the closest thing that exists to a Prime Minister in the Prussian government. And Her Majesty Queen Victoria wrote an extensive and cordial letter to the King of Prussia, Frederick William IV, just a week ago, who, having recently ascended to the throne, is eager to have a good relationship with our Queen, as he demonstrated in his reply to that letter ... Of course, all this with the knowledge and agreement of Prime Minister Peel," said the ambassador.  
Cumberland was livid with anger and fear.  
"What does all this mean, ambassador?" Cumberland said in a voice broken by anguish and anger.  
"I think it means that Her Majesty the Queen, her Consort and the Prime Minister can use their good relations with the Prussian King and his closest advisors to relax the tension ... I would not even be surprised if tomorrow Prussian troops withdraw and return to their regular locations and all this has been no more than a rehearsal, 'war games' ... But it also means that very likely the appeasement of the Prussians and therefore the peace and security of Hanover depend on everything going well in London and that nothing jeopardizes the stability of our country, especially the ability of our Queen to intercede before the Prussian Court. I think that's what it means," said the ambassador with that way that diplomats have, to present threats without appearing as such, disguised with a courteous language.  
Later that day, Cumberland gave orders to his agents in London to disband the group of assassins he had hired at a high price and to dispense with their services. His perverse plans against Victoria and Lord Melbourne were definitively dead.  
A couple of days later a young man, just over 30 years old, tall and thin, but somewhat muscular, blond and with a thick moustache, walked through the courtyard of a Hanover prison, escorted by soldiers. The man was chained hand and foot, wearing dirty and torn clothes, with a shirt that had been white and now looked almost black with grime and brown pants also filthy and torn. The man's face was covered in bruises, the product of several strong blows received in recent days. One eye was almost closed by the swelling produced by a brutal blow and the dried blood was around his broken nose and swollen lips. Through the broken shirt looked the marks of the whipping that the man received on his back, brutal whipping that left his skin disfigured.  
The man was placed with his back against a wall of the prison and in front of him was a squad of soldiers in horizontal formation ... it was a firing squad.  
The man recalled the scene a few days before when he was standing in front of a group of officers dressed in pompous dress uniforms and sitting side by side on a more or less long table. The scene occurred in a room where apart from him and the men sitting at the table, there were only two soldiers with their rifles who were there as their jailers. A bald and elderly man who was right in the middle of the group of officers spoke in German.  
_"Kapitän Ludwig Schulze, dieses Kriegsgericht findet Sie der Verbrechen der Feigheit und des Verrats schuldig, indem Sie mit Ihrer Majestät Ernest Augustus, König von Hannover, nicht mit Ihrem Leben schützen, und wir verurteilen Sie deshalb zur Todesstrafe, indem Sie schießen, außerdem unehrenhaft von der Hannoverschen Armee entlassen, degradiert und des Ranges des Kapitäns beraubt, und aller innewohnenden Ehren, einschließlich der Dekorationen, von denen ein Feigling nicht würdig ist, "_   "Captain Ludwig Schulze, this Court-martial finds you guilty of the crimes of cowardice and treason by failing to protect with your life with His Majesty Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, and we, therefore, sentence you to the Death Penalty by shooting, in addition to dishonorably discharged from the Hanover Army, being degraded and deprived of the rank of captain, and of all the inherent honors, including the decorations of which a coward is not worthy," said the president of the Court-martial.  
Now Ludwig stared in terror at the soldiers of the firing squad, while tears ran down his face. There was no longer any trace of arrogance in him, only fear of death and emotional suffering, for the terror he felt was worse than the tortures to which the Cumberland thugs subjected him, the same ones who tortured the students, intellectuals, men of businessmen and simple peasants or workers who were imprisoned in the dungeons for opposing in some way the tyranny of Cumberland. Ludwig refused the bandage offered to cover his eyes and then looked up to see Cumberland watching the scene from a window on a high floor.  
"Please, Majesty, forgive me! I did not want to fail you ... At least forgive my life and let me live in shame!" he cried desperately.  
Cumberland looked at him scornfully.  
"Ready!" shouted the officer who commanded the peloton.  
Ludwig's whole body trembled violently, as he kept crying.  
"Aim!" the officer shouted with his sword raised, and all the soldiers pointed their rifles at the poor wretch in front of them.  
Ludwig urinated on his pants of fear, a final shame with which his own body betrayed him, a fact that would reinforce his image as a coward.  
"Fire!" the officer shouted, lowering his sword and a fusillade volley rumbled in the prison yard, while clouds of smoke issued from the barrels of the rifles.  
The discharge of lead bullets flew in the direction of Ludwig and several hit him in the chest and legs, lifting pieces of skin and drops of blood. The man fell backwards, to the floor, his chest covered with red holes in his shirt, which they grew while the blood, drenched the entire fabric. A trickle of blood came from Ludwig's mouth, who nevertheless still lived, with his eyes wide and breathing difficult.  
The officer who gave the order to shoot approached him with a pistol in his hand.  
"Mama," was the last word that Ludwig pronounced.  
The officer fired the gun at Ludwig's head and his brain and blood flew through the air. After the silence.  
From the window, Cumberland snorted scornfully and turned to see an assistant.  
"Do you remember that the mother of that coward wrote to me begging me to spare her son's life? Send her the body and tell her that that is my answer ... also tell her that if she begins to tell everyone why her son died, that she remembers that she still has two other children who may suffer the same fate. So better she keeps the mouth shut or prepare to suffer the consequences," Cumberland said threateningly.  
"Yeah, Majesty," answered the assistant.  
"Someone had to pay for the insult, someone must be suffered my wrath," Cumberland said furiously and then left walking quickly.  
"They would be had to be been Victoria and Melbourne ... but since they can not be ... I suppose the price of happiness of ones is the tragedy of others," Cumberland said in a low voice while talking to himself.  
The vase and sword Incident had a tragic epilogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I invite all my friends readers to click on the link that I post after this text. I invite you all to join me on this site, where I will start publishing unpublished stories of mine, that I cannot publish in AO3, but that will have the same components of my fanfics that you like so much. And I ask you to join and collaborate with me to make my dream come true, and recommend the site to your friends and family. Thank you. https://www.patreon.com/user/posts?u=11043194


	18. Little civilities that make marriage sparkle.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little civilities that make marriage sparkle, something that Lord Melbourne knows very well. And Victoria will know another side of the love he feels for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I have rectified the chapter and I hope that the new edition is more acceptable. Of course, I did not want to bother you.

"He shot Schulze?" Victoria asked bewildered.  
Victoria was sitting on a sofa, while Peel and Lord Melbourne were standing in front of her. Victoria had received her Prime Minister, and at her insistence Lord Melbourne was present.  
Lately the Queen was irritable about her pregnancy and only the presence of her husband had a miraculous effect on her, calming her and even cheering her up, and that's why Peel was delighted that Lord Melbourne was present at the hearings, because of his natural awkwardness in relating with Victoria he did not quite feel comfortable working with her.  
And after all, Peel's cohabitation with Lord Melbourne in their respective roles as Prime Minister and Consort of the Queen had been much better than Peel had ever expected. The fears that Peel harboured, the misgivings about the wedding of the Queen with who had been his most ardent political rival for years, had almost completely dissipated. After those first moments when the King of the Belgians (and Victoria's uncle) Leopold had met him and Wellington to tell them about his niece's shameful secret (her personal dishonor that threatened to destroy her reign with the arrival of a bastard of her) and in which, Peel resisted a bit the solution offered by Victoria ... after that many things happened in those months that seemed years.  
Leopold's astuteness and insistence, and Wellington's vehemence and solid arguments managed to bend Peel and convince him. Certainly, the fear of seeing Cumberland on the Throne and the disastrous consequences that this could bring to the country overcame any reluctance of Peel. But of course, Lord Melbourne's behaviour convinced Peel that the former Whig Party leader and his predecessor in power had no intention of using his marriage with the young Queen to become the true power behind the Throne and to reign instead of Victoria, as if he were the true King and his wife his puppet. Nor had it jeopardized the Crown's neutrality in politics, and it had not turned Victoria into a Whig Queen.  
Lord Melbourne was far enough away from politics and especially from Victoria's prerogatives as a constitutional Monarch (prerogatives that on the other hand were for the most part symbolic although her influence as Queen could not be disdained). Even Peel admitted to himself that with young Albert things would probably have been different. Although he had treated the young German prince for a short time and had begun to feel some sympathy for him, Peel admitted that Albert was an ambitious young man and above all very proud, perhaps arrogant and that he would not be been content with such a passive or respectful role of Victoria's rights like the one Lord Melbourne had had. Peel suspected that the relationship between Victoria and Albert would have been marked by Albert's constant efforts to demand that Victoria delegate more and more royal prerogatives to him, to try to reign without crown and to displace Victoria in private, which would have created tensions, in the marriage.  
Peel acknowledged that Lord Melbourne stood on the sidelines and encouraged Victoria to reign independently and maintain a good relationship with him and the Tory government. That is why Peel appreciated Lord Melbourne's intervention instead of being suspicious of it because he admitted that he was mediating between Peel and Victoria and facilitated the dialogue between them, and at no time did he say any words that could be interpreted as a stimulus for Victoria would be turned against Peel.  
"Yes, Your Majesty ... after a quick trial in front a court-martial, he was sentenced to death for treason and cowardice, and they executed him," Peel said without knowing if he was being very brusque in his speech to Victoria, considering the condition advanced of her pregnancy.  
"And all for failing to defend my uncle? My goodness! If a soldier of my Guard failed to protect me, even if it were for cowardice ... even if as a result I was murdered, he would not be executed ... I believe that in the worst case he would go to jail for a few years, not I know, I'm not an expert in Criminal Law but I think I'm not wrong, right?" Victoria said still a little surprised.  
"I would have to ask the Attorney General, I'm not sure, but I think you may be right, ma'am," Peel answered sincerely and making a mental note to remember that he should ask the Attorney General to take answer to Victoria in a next meeting and thus show her that he was heedful any doubt or concern from her.  
"Victoria, the problem is that we live in a democracy ... or something that is almost a democracy ..." Lord Melbourne interjected and smiled wryly, remembering that a system of government could not be considered totally democratic until, all adult men had the right to vote regardless of the level of his economic patrimony, as it happened in the United States and as it still did not happen in Great Britain, and for that reason the aristocratic government of Great Britain was liberal, constitutional and even partially democratic but not totally, "... unlike Hanover, where what exists is the dictatorship of a tyrant," the face of Lord Melbourne hardened to remember the man who he had beaten for insulting his wife, "In our country a man must answer in front real courts of justice, in a fair trial, not what happens in Hanover where you must face a corrupt court formed by your uncle's puppets in a farce of judgment where the sentence has been previously written ... This has been just another crime of Cumberland, a murder disguised as a judicial execution," added Lord Melbourne serious and resigned, with the contempt he felt for Cumberland reflected in his face.  
"Really that man is a monster, a criminal ... I do not understand how he can do that to someone who even served him in a servile way, like a too devoted servant. I am terrified to think of the perversion that dwells in his heart ... I am ashamed that he is my father's brother, that he is someone I called uncle ... And I tremble at the thought of the chaos that would have happened in our country if he had been the King ... I hope he leaves us alone," said Victoria.  
"It seems that the pressure has taken effect, Your Majesty ... the intelligence and diplomatic reports that I have brought today affirm that Cumberland has decided to refrain from intervening in British affairs, especially against your reign, ma'am ... I believe that the fear of the Prussians keeps him at bay," said Peel.  
"I'm glad to hear it, and I'm glad that the Prussians have agreed to help us ... Lord M, do you think we can continue to rely on Prussia to frighten this criminal?" Victoria asked.  
"I think so ... with the economic and commercial concessions made to them by Sir Robert and the Cabinet, with the manifestation of friendship on the part of Great Britain, with the commitment to support one day the annexation of Hanover by Prussia, and the vague promise to consider future marriage links between the next generation members of the reigning British and Prussian dynasties, I think it's enough to guarantee Prussian support ... After all, military exercises like the one a few days ago do not cost the Prussians much that they are always eager to train their war machinery and show off it, and they have only bothered Cumberland ... And if they really had to invade, they would be happy to pay the price to annex Hanover to their territory ... for them and us, it is a win-win game," answered Lord Melbourne.  
"I agree with Lord Melbourne. Prussia benefits from its friendship with us and it costs them nothing to serve as a ghost to scare Cumberland, and with the promise of greater benefits in the future. On the contrary, Cumberland has no one to turn to ... the Austrian Empire is the only power that could intervene in his favour since it competes with Prussia for supremacy within the German Confederation, but for the moment the Austrians do not show a willingness to support him. Perhaps Cumberland is confident that in case of an invasion Austria would decide to intervene, in addition to the federal institutions of the Confederation could do so too ... but I think he prefers not to reach that end because in that case, it could be too late. I think Cumberland is scared and disoriented, because for the first time he lives in a situation of vulnerability and uncertainty about his future, without British protection and even seeing an enemy in the British Crown," said Peel speaking more comfortably doing it as he would in a political meeting or in a session of the House.  
"Then let's trust that fear keeps him on the right path," concluded Victoria speaking as the Queen.  
The audience continued for a little while, while Peel reported other official matters to the Queen, for her formal knowledge, while Lord Melbourne remained almost silent and in a discreet background, only intervening a few times to facilitate the dialogue between Peel and Victoria, and him serene her, in front indications of which she began to be impatient, perhaps by the discomforts. At the end of the hearing and after Peel retired, Lord Melbourne sat on the sofa and made Victoria lay her back and head on his legs, while she raised her legs to the sofa and lay on her back.  
"How do you feel now, my love?" Lord Melbourne asked as he stroked Victoria's hair with tenderness and saw the beautiful blue eyes of the girl.  
"Well, not so bad ... a few minutes ago I felt a bit dizzy, but I've been getting better ... Maybe hearing the name of my uncle makes me sick even more than usual these days," Victoria answered.  
"Ma'am, you must not let, the news about that scoundrel disturb you ... you must keep calm, I told you that your peace of mind is as important to your physical health in this trance as the best medicine ... You must take care of yourself and the child," Lord Melbourne said while with one hand still stroking Victoria's head and with the other hand caressed her bulging belly.  
"I know, Lord M ... and believe me that if something makes my discomforts diminish or disappear, and it gives me peace and bliss, are your attentions and especially your caresses ... especially when we are in bed," said Victoria between shy and malicious, blushing as she recalled her last nights with Lord Melbourne.  
"I know, my little naughty," Lord Melbourne replied and with his hand he traced a path from Victoria's belly to her breasts, caressing and squeezing one through the fabric of the dress that covered it, making Victoria gasped in satisfaction, "They are great, they are my favorite toys," he added mockingly, while continuing to squeeze her breasts through the dress.  
"God mine! ... I want to take off my dress so you can enjoy them at your whim ... I never thought I would be so happy that they would grow up expecting a child ... but I am afraid they will return to their normal size, after giving birth, or I've heard that," said Victoria, who often mentioned her doubts about what would be happened during pregnancy and after, and she loved to obtain information about it and discuss it with all possible people.  
"Certainly, your breasts will return to their normal size, sometime after childbirth ... but do not worry, then I will look for a woman with big breasts," said Lord Melbourne, looking serious.  
"Stupid!" exclaimed Victoria looking angry as she punched her husband in the arm, and both laughed.  
"Victoria, your breasts were already big enough and beautiful before, at least that could appreciate in the necklines of your dresses ... in any case, they are the only breasts of woman I want to caress, squeeze, kiss, lick and suck," Lord Melbourne replied and he lowered his head to give her a long and passionate kiss in the mouth.  
The lips and tongues of Victoria and Lord Melbourne explored each other again, in a deep kiss laden with desire. Meanwhile, Victoria's mind returned to the previous night ...  
That night, like every night since the day of the incident between Lord Melbourne and Cumberland, Lord Melbourne made love to her passionately but with care for her pregnancy. Like the first time between them, Victoria lay on her side on her left side on the bed, her back to Lord Melbourne as he penetrated her. But this time Victoria was totally naked, like Lord Melbourne. He caressed and squeezed Victoria's breasts, pinched her nipples, and kissed her head and smelled her hair. Victoria panted and uttered laments of pleasure, groans that were increasing as Lord Melbourne continued to move inside her, lunging and piercing her inside with his cock. She turned her head and sought his lips to kiss him, and Lord Melbourne accelerated the rhythmic movement of his penetration. Until Victoria finally uttered a couple of screams of pleasure and Lord Melbourne dug deep into her and reached the climax, spilling his cum into her wife's intimate cavity. Then Lord Melbourne placed his fingers on Victoria's cheek and made her turn her head to kiss her deeply on the lips, then caress her body, including her belly.  
Victoria still shivered with pleasure as she remembered those moments, and now, leaning on her husband on the sofa, she writhed a little, with the gesture of a satisfied kitty on her face, which excited Lord Melbourne.  
"Lord M ... I do not want to give up our privacy ... now that I enjoy married life with you, I do not want to stop doing it. Do you think I'm shameless about that?" Victoria said shyly while playing with Lord Melbourne's tie with her little hand.  
"Do not be silly, ma'am! Wanting to love a man with your body cannot be a shame, especially if it is your husband and you are in love with him ... I think you should forget the puritanical nonsense that your beloved Baroness Lehzen had put in your head ... I do not want to give up intimacy either with you, but you know that soon it will be inevitable ... but do not worry, there are other ways to enjoy the pleasure without having me inside you ... but ways that are also very exciting and pleasurable," said Lord Melbourne with a gesture of desire in the face and the voice loaded with lust.  
"Really? ... You're a surprises box Lord M!" Victoria exclaimed with a mischievous gesture and bright eyes.  
"Pleasant surprises for you, ma'am," Lord Melbourne replied and kissed her again with passion.  
That night they did not experience these new ways of loving each other, because Victoria felt nauseous and retired early to sleep, and Lord Melbourne accompanied her to entertain her with his talk and embrace her until she fell asleep.  
Both slept peacefully, with Lord Melbourne sleeping on his back (with two pillows behind his head to lift it up and remind him a bit of the feeling of sleeping in his old armchair) and Victoria slept hugging him, with her head resting on Lord Melbourne's chest as if it were her pillow. He wrapped his arm around her and his hand rested on Victoria's belly as if protecting the woman and the child in her womb.  
But at one point in the morning, Victoria woke up, feeling the need to urinate (something that happened to her more often now). She tried to move carefully but Lord Melbourne woke up with his wife's movements.  
"Where are you going Victoria?" Lord Melbourne asked, half sleepy.  
"Excuse me, I did not want to wake you up ... it's that I have to ... I need to satisfy an urgency ... a physiological need," Victoria said timidly.  
"Do you need to go to the privy?" Lord Melbourne asked attentively.  
"No ... my chamber pot is enough for me," Victoria replied with some embarrassment because there were still traces of shame in her as if she did not get used to seeing Lord Melbourne as her husband.  
"Come on, I'll help you," said Lord Melbourne, removing the coverlet and sheets to reveal him and Victoria, as he moved to get off the bed.  
"No, Lord M, do not bother, I ..." Victoria replied embarrassingly.  
"Don't be silly, Victoria ... in your current condition, I know that it is difficult for you to move and I do not want you to trip or slip and fall ... At this moment it would be dangerous," said Lord Melbourne kindly.  
"But I did not want to bother you ... I can call Lehzen ..." Victoria said.  
"My love, I am your husband and I have the obligation to take care of you and help you in everything ... you do not need to resort to anyone else, for that I am," said Lord Melbourne stroking her cheek and kissing her lips.  
Lord Melbourne got out of bed and found the chamber pot, and put it on the floor near the bed, on the side Victoria was sleeping on, while she watched. Then he gave her his hand and Victoria took it, and Lord Melbourne helped her out of bed. Lord Melbourne continued to hold her hand while Victoria stood over the chamber pot, with it between her bare feet. Victoria hesitated a moment.  
"Ma'am, I think you're supposed to lift your nightgown and bend over ... or at least that's heard," said Lord Melbourne mockingly, with a funny and charming smile on his face.  
"I think I have some experience with it, Lord M!" Victoria replied mockingly, while blushing because she actually felt a little embarrassed about having to pee in front of her husband.  
Victoria lifted her nightgown up to her waist with one hand, while Lord Melbourne was still holding her by the other hand. Then she bent down and crouched over the chamber pot, while she kept holding her nightgown up with one hand and Lord Melbourne holding her by the other so she would not fall. But she did not urinate immediately.  
"Do you need me to whistle or sing, ma'am?" Lord Melbourne asked mockingly and amused.  
"You're a fool! It would be better if you did not see me," Victoria replied feigning anger but fun.  
"All right ... although there is something erotic about a woman urinating," said Lord Melbourne apparently teasing.  
"Perverted!" exclaimed Victoria and both laughed out loud, "Do not make me laugh, William! I'm going to end up making a mess on the floor."  
After a few moments Victoria got to urinate, and Lord Melbourne turned his face to not see her while doing so and so she did not see his smile funny. When she finished, Lord Melbourne felt Victoria pull a little from his hand and he reached down to help her up and led her back to the bed.  
The next day, long after dawn, Victoria was still lying in her bed, while Lord Melbourne (who was dressed in a robe over his nightwear) was sitting on the edge of the bed at the feet of Victoria, and Baroness Lehzen was standing, next to the head of the bed, talking to both of them.  
"Lord Melbourne, those kinds of tasks are unworthy of you, the Consort of a British Queen ... you should not demean yourself to do those activities, you should have called me to attend to Your Majesty," said Baroness Lehzen as if she were scolding Lord Melbourne and even to Victoria.  
"Baroness, I believe that a husband should treat his wife with affection, regardless of their status in society ... and what greater privilege for the Queen's Consort to attend to her in any of her needs?" answered Lord Melbourne mockingly and with a charming smile.  
"Lehzen, if Lord Melbourne wants to take care of me and help me, you should not complain ... Also, you know that in my condition it is difficult for me to do even the smallest things and if I had to wait until I called you and you came to my bedroom to help me, I could to end up urinating without the chamber pot, in bed or on the floor ... Not to mention that it would cause Lord Melbourne more trouble ... if I do have to interrupt his dream let it be for something useful and ephemeral," Victoria replied a little impatiently.  
Baroness Lehzen frowned and by the gesture of her face it was clear that she did not agree, but she refrained from continuing to protest. Lord Melbourne took a small bottle from his side, on the bed, and removed the lid.  
"Allow me, ma'am," said Lord Melbourne taking Victoria's bare feet and putting them over his legs, "This is good for you."  
Lord Melbourne poured small amounts of liquid on Victoria's feet and began to massage them, spreading the substance over them.  
"It's sweet almond oil, it's very good when your feet are swollen ... I think you'll feel better with a good massage," Lord Melbourne explained.  
Victoria and Baroness Lehzen contemplated the work of Lord Melbourne with some surprise, but immediately Victoria's face was covered in a sweet and loving, happy gesture. Even Baroness Lehzen could not help a gesture of some tenderness and a smile.  
Lord Melbourne gently massaged the soles of Victoria's feet, using the fingers of his hands to rub the skin of that area of the feet, trying to undo the knots of tension and relax his wife. The fingers of his hands went up and sank between her toes, while she smiled with pleasure.  
"Lord Melbourne, that should also be the work of Her Majesty's servants," said Lehzen, as an affectionate reprimand.  
"Lehzen, if my husband wants to give me a massage, I will not be the one to prevent it ... I also doubt that anyone will do it better," Victoria replied smiling.  
Lehzen sighed and saw resigned to that couple who looked so in love and happy and was happy for the joy of Victoria, whom she loved as if it were her daughter. She decided to give the couple privacy.  
"With your permission, Your Majesty ... I'll go see how things are going this morning and order Miss Skerrett to be ready for you when you need her," Lehzen said and after Victoria gave her permission, she left.  
"Really you are a very skilled man, with many amazing hidden abilities, Lord M ... Now I discover that besides politics, history, law, arts and other knowledge, you know how to help me as if you were my personal maid and you can give me some wonderful massages ... I am very lucky to have a husband who knows how to do anything, from ruling an Empire to massaging his wife's feet," Victoria said with a sweet and mischievous smile.  
"Ma'am, I think men have a lot to learn from women ... you all can do a thousand things and all very well, and we usually can only do a couple of things relatively well ... I try to emulate women as much as possible and be skilful in many things, particularly if it serves to make my wife happy," replied Lord Melbourne with a charming smile and bright eyes, while still massaging his wife's feet.  
"And how did you learn the art of massage? ... With your first wife?" Victoria asked with some shyness, as if afraid to mention the subject, and a little jealous of the deceased woman.  
"No ... it was with my mother," answered Lord Melbourne funny.  
"With your mother?" Victoria asked surprised and curious.  
"Yes, with my mother," Lord Melbourne said with a gesture on his face that reflected nostalgia, tenderness and a certain sadness, "When I had, I do not know ... maybe 10 years old, or 11, my mother called me to her bedroom, where she was alone, and she said: 'Son, you must learn some useful things with which you will make happy to a women, especially to the one who marries you ... some you will have to learn them on your own, but at least this one, I can teach you'... and then she handed me a jar of almond oil, she lay down on the bed and told me to spread the oil on her feet and give her a massage ... She guided me, told me how to do it, not too slow not very fast, neither with great force nor with little force, being delicate but at the same time with enough friction to overcome the tension, making pressure with the tips of the fingers, making circular movements and other times from the bottom up ... the idea is that you feel like my hands are stretching and relaxing your skin ... to break those points or knots where the pain accumulates and using the oil to diminish the swelling ... You will see how little by little your feet feel better, and then your whole legs, when the welfare goes up," added.  
Victoria looked at Lord Melbourne in wonder, saw his hands working on her feet with affection and devotion, and saw the tenderness in his face, seeing a semblance of the innocent child that he once was, that child who now seemed to peer out from the shadows of oblivion, that child who like all children are diluted to almost disappear by the weight of the cruel pain of adult life, particularly painful in the case of Lord Melbourne. But something about that child survived and now appeared in the beautiful eyes of Lord Melbourne when he spoke of his sweet memories of his absent mother. And for the first time, she saw him as sweet and pure, just as on that night of the incident she had known other unexplored aspects of him, from the savage anger of the wounded man to the heartbreaking vulnerability of the man who had broken under the weight of so much pain. Now she was really getting to know him, and she felt the desperate desire to protect and comfort him ... to hold him in her chest and tell him that everything would be fine, that she would take care of him as his mother once did, and like he took care of her. Because, after all, that was love ...  
"I wish I had met your mother ... she seemed to be a very special person," said Victoria with love and happiness.  
"Yes, she was ... I would have loved it if you knew her, and I'm sure she would have loved you," Lord Melbourne said in a voice broken by emotion, with a smile and moist eyes.  
"And I would like to make you as happy, as she did to you when you were a child," Victoria said with a look that expressed pure love and tenderness, and also a protective, almost maternal instinct.  
"You already do," Lord Melbourne replied, touched and with a gesture that expressed pure and innocent love, like that of a child.  
Lord Melbourne continued to massage Victoria's feet a few more minutes and then finished.  
"Well, ma'am ... I think it's enough for today ... Or do you have any other part of your body swollen that requires massage?" Lord Melbourne asked laughingly.  
"Well, to tell you the truth ... I think there is another part of my body swollen that may require a good massage," Victoria said with a mischievous gesture as she lowered the top of her nightgown and left her breasts naked.  
"It's a pleasure to please you, ma'am," Lord Melbourne said with an amused smile and a lascivious look, approaching Victoria who gave a little giggle of pleasure.  
A few minutes later Lehzen went to knock on the bedroom door accompanied by Skerrett, but she heard through the door panting with pleasure and giggles from Victoria.  
"All the time, every hour! ... This must be a sin even in a married couple!" Lehzen protested with a snort.  
Miss Skerrett gave a little giggle, but then she became serious before Lehzen's stern look.  
"Miss Skerrett, wait until there are no more noises and knock on the door, to attend to Her Majesty," said Baroness Lehzen and withdrew.  
Skerrett listened and covered her mouth as she giggled.  
The night of that day, Victoria woke up surrounded by the arm of Lord Melbourne. She frowned and her face reflected a certain discomfort, and she tried to carefully move away from Lord Melbourne, but he woke up.  
"Are you going to urinate? I'll look for the chamber pot," said Lord Melbourne kindly and prepared to get up.  
"No, it's just ... the problem is that it's not about urinating ... I think the dinner was very heavy and I need to do something else," Victoria replied sheepishly.  
"I see ... you have to go to the privy ... Well, I'll go with you," said Lord Melbourne.  
Victoria tried to dissuade him, but he insisted on accompanying her because he was afraid to leave her alone and she would slip and fall. Once she was in the privy, Lord Melbourne waited outside, but after a couple of minutes without hearing anything he asked if everything was fine.  
"Yes, Lord M, it's just that ... now it's taking me longer to conclude this issue well," said Victoria, embarrassed and a little impatient.  
"Victoria, do you know the anecdote of Queen Joanna of Castile? It is said that she gave birth to her son Carlos, who would be King of Spain and Emperor of the Germanic Empire, in a privy ... it seems that in the middle of a party, she had belly pain and thought that it was not because of her pregnancy but because of normal urgency, and when she was inside, she ended up giving birth on her own, without help ... so future most powerful Monarch of his time was born in a privy," Lord Melbourne said mockingly.  
"That does not help, Lord M!" Victoria exclaimed a little angry, "In addition, the English Queens are not like the Spanish Queens ... I do not intend to give birth in a privy!"  
"It is heartening to hear it, ma'am ... It would be shameful if a possible heir of the British Crown could fall into the privy's hole as soon as it was born, it would not be a very honourable way to start its life," Lord Melbourne said, suppressing laughter.  
"Stupid!" Victoria exclaimed in disgust, but then when Lord Melbourne burst out laughing, she could not help laughing too, "Lord M, do not be bad! Already it's hard enough for me as if to make me laugh out loud in this unseemly position," she added still laughing.  
Lord Melbourne was silent, smiling amused. A couple of minutes passed and Victoria finished, but then he heard Victoria give a little cry of disgust.  
"Victoria! ... Are you okay?" Lord Melbourne asked a little worried and willing to enter the privy.  
"It's nothing!" exclaimed Victoria, disgusted. "It's just that ... trying to cleanse me ... Hell, I've gotten dirty!"  
Lord Melbourne had to suppress the laughter again. A couple of minutes later Lord Melbourne and Victoria were back in the bedroom, sitting on two chairs next to a small table, on which was a bowl of soap and water, and some towels.  
"Victoria, give me your hand," said Lord Melbourne in an affectionate tone.  
"No!" Victoria replied as a spoiled and embarrassed girl.  
"Victoria, give me your hand, now," said Lord Melbourne more firmly, like a father who speaks to his little daughter when she acts rebelliously.  
"I'm ashamed," Victoria replied, almost pouting.  
"Don't be silly, my girl ... let me cleanse you," said Lord Melbourne affectionately again.  
Victoria slowly extended her arm, and Lord Melbourne took it and with water, soap and a towel he began to clean her with affection and tenderness as if she were a small girl.  
"You do not know how many times I had to clean my son, even at an age when it was no longer necessary for normal kids ..." Lord Melbourne said sadly and with some nostalgia, "I did it with affection and dedication, it never bothered me, on the contrary."  
"But you had servants to do it," said Victoria a little curious.  
"But sometimes a child needs his parents, not a servant," said Lord Melbourne nostalgic.  
"But I'm not your daughter, Lord M," Victoria replied with a smile.  
"Victoria, you are my daughter ... you are my daughter, my friend, my mistress, my mother, my pupil, my desire, my life ... all that and more is for a man the woman who loves, and especially you for me ... That will be always you for me, ma'am," replied Lord Melbourne.  
They both looked at each other tenderly, and then Lord Melbourne continued to clean Victoria's hand and forearm.  
"Once someone said that when a Prince goes to the privy the result is equal to that of a beggar when he goes to that same place," said Lord Melbourne ironic and mocking, "And he was right ... that makes us equal to all, it's the best sign that in the end, all men are same ... And from what I checked today, when a Queen goes to that place the result is the same as when a washerwoman goes."  
"Stupid!" Victoria protested angrily as she withdrew her hand and kicked her husband.  
Lord Melbourne burst out laughing and Victoria did the same. Then Lord Melbourne took Victoria's hand again to finish cleaning and drying it.  
"When our child is born, I will teach you to wash it, as I do with you," said Lord Melbourne affectionate.  
" 'Our' child?" Victoria asked surprised and excited.  
"Yes ... our child ... yours and mine" replied Lord Melbourne affectionate.  
Victoria's eyes filled with tears, and getting up she sat down later in her husband's lap and kissed him on the lips. Now Victoria knew that after all, the child she expected would have a father ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The German Confederation was an association formed by 39 independent and sovereign German-speaking countries, which existed from 1815 to 1866 (with an interruption between 1848 and 1850). Basically, the objective of this association was to coordinate the economies of the member countries, and had only one central institution, which was an Assembly of delegates called Federal Convention (Confederate Diet). The Confederation was weakened by the rivalry between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire, the two most powerful members, and the Kingdom of Hanover was a member of the Confederation. The anecdote of Juana I (Joanna I) of Castile and her son Carlos I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire (Germanic), is real.


End file.
